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Live Blog - Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings - Pathirana seals defence in Mumbai night
By Sidharth MongaA defensive masterclass
This match is a win for CSK's planning and execution. They had fewer options than MI both with the ball and the bat but what they had was perfect execution from Dube, Gaikwad and Dhoni earlier, and then from their fast bowlers at the death. We leave you with a teaser from our report. Thanks for joining us.
Sensational defensive bowling from Chennai Super Kings did what might have seemed unthinkable: successfully defend a total in the night at Wankhede Stadium. And it was not a huge total: pushed just over 200 by an MS Dhoni cameo off 22 off the last four balls of the innings after Shivam Dube had continued his dream season with an unbeaten 66 off 38. For large parts it was a contest that fit the billing: between the two-most successful teams in the IPL and two of three-most popular teams. For large parts, it seemed the defending champions CSK would be outgunned. Jasprit Bumrah restricted them with four overs for just 27, the MI innings looked like going smoothly, but Matheesha Pathirana started the comeback with two wickets in his first over. Still MI were favourites going into the last seven, needing 83 with eight wickets in hand, but, led by Pathirana, their fast bowlers executed their plans of making batters hit into the bigger part perfectly, eventually winning by 20 runs. Rohit Sharma scored a century but it was only to MI’s detriment: he scored just 17 off 16 in those overs and then found another wind when the task had become mathematically impossible.