Rohit Sharma struck his second century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) but his brilliant effort went in vain as Chennai Super Kings rode on superb batting by Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shivam Dube and MS Dhoni and a four-fer by pacer Matheesha Pathirana to beat Mumbai Indians by 20 runs in Match 29 of IPL 2024 at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday.
Rohit remained unbeaten on 105 off 62 balls — a brilliant second hundred for the former Mumbai Indians captain in 17 years in the T20 league as he hammered 11 boundaries and five sweetly-timed sixes. But Mumbai Indians failed to keep up with the mounting run rate as they lost wickets at crucial junctures after a brilliant start to lose their fourth match of IPL 2024.
It was Super Sunday, not for the hosts but for the visitors as they rode on brilliant half-centuries by Ruturaj Gaikwad (69) and Shivam Dube (66 not out) and a sensational four-ball 20 by Mahendra Singh Dhoni to post a challenging 206/4 in 20 overs. CSK then rode on a superb 4-28 by Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana, who came in as an Impact Substitute, to restrict Mumbai Indians to 186/6 in 20 overs. Ironically, it was this four-ball 20 by Dhoni that proved decisive as they lost the match by the same margin.
Rohit and Ishan Kishan shared another superb partnership to give Mumbai a good start as they raced to 63 runs in the Power-play.
Kishan started aggressively as he hit a four off Tushar Deshpande’s second delivery and followed that up with a six and four back-to-back off Shardul Thakur in the third over. Mustafizur Rahman got struck for a four too and though Ravindra Jadeja kept him quiet,
Matheesha Pathirana, who came in as an Impact Substitute, struck off his first delivery, as Kishan hit a full-length delivery on his pads straight to Shardul Thakur at midwicket for a regulation catch. Kishan scored 23 off 15 balls, hitting three fours and a six, to leave Mumbai at 70/1 in the eighth over.
Mumbai’s Impact Substitute Suryakuamr Yadav, who had blasted a 17-ball half-century in the previous match against RCB, went back for a two-ball duck, an uppercut off a short and wide delivery with extra pace was caught superbly by Mustafizur at the deep third-man boundary. From 70 for no loss, MI were down to 70/2 in three deliveries.
But Rohit Sharma continued with his brilliant batting, punishing the bowlers with trademark power-hitting as he raced to his half-century off 30 balls, hitting seven boundaries and two maximums. The India captain started with a four off his Mumbai teammate Deshpande off the fifth ball of his first over and meted out the same treatment to Mustafizur Rahman in the next over. Deshpande was knocked out of the ground with a fine pull while Mustafizur was treated to a four and six off successive deliveries in the fifth over, the massive six landing on the roof of the stadium.
Rohit also hammered Shadrul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja for a couple of boundaries each before blasting a four and six off Jadeja, Deshpande adding insult to the injury by dropping a slog-sweep over the boundary rope for the six.
He and Tilak Varma added 60 runs for the third-wicket partnership before Varma got out for a 20-ball 31 studded with five boundaries. Pathirana, who came into the side as an Impact substitute after an injury break, was brought into the attack and made an impact by removing Varma, with a slower one pitched on the back of the length that was hit straight to Thakur for a tumbling catch at mid-off.
With the run rate mounting, Mumbai lost the plot in the death overs as Shardul Thakur and Tushar Deshpande bowled excellent overs, conceding three and two runs respectively
Hardik Pandya, who was hammered for a hat-trick of sixes by MS Dhoni in the final over, made his day worse by scoring two runs off six balls while Tim David could manage only 13 off six.
Rohit continued to score briskly from the other end, hitting Mustafizur Rahman a couple of lusty blows, including a six as he completed his century off 61 balls, hitting Pathirana for back-to-back boundaries in the final over.
Romario Shepherd was bowled by Pathirana for one run, leaving Mumbai needing 41 runs off 12 balls. A tall ask anyway and they eventually ended on 186/4, losing the match by 20 runs. Rohit Sharma remained not out on 105 but he did not get the support from the other end as Mumbai Indians succumbed to scoreboard pressure and some good bowling in the death overs by Chennai Super Kings. Pathirana was the best bowler of the lot with 4-28 in four overs that broke the back of Mumbai innings.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings sprung a surprise by sending Ajinkya Rahane instead of skipper Gaikwad to open the innings with Rachin Ravindra. But the move did not yield the desired result with Rahane getting out for five at his home ground.
He swept Mohd Nabi over short fine leg for a boundary in the second over but fell to Gerald Coetzee in the next, mistiming a pull shot straight to Hardik Pandya at mid-on.
The stands appeared more yellow than the traditional blue, despite many fans, who were wearing yellow jerseys of CSK lining up to take free jerseys given by the home team, and families walking into the stadium with one member wearing yellow of the visiting team while another wearing the blue of the hosts.
In the middle too, CSK started prospering with Gaikwad hammering Coetzee for a massive six over long-on in the third over and following that up with four and six off successive balls in his next over, making room for a cut but managing only a thick inside edge past short fine-leg and backing away again on the next ball to uppercut a short one over third man for six.
CSK could still manage only 48/1 in the Power-play. However, with both Gaikwad and Ravindra helping themselves to a four each off Akash Madhwal and the New Zealand opener carting Shreyas Gopal for a six with a clean swing over long-on, they completed fifty of their partnership for the second wicket off 36 balls.
Gopal had his revenge on the next delivery as he induced a faint edge as Ravindra attempted to cut and missed. Keeper Ishan Kishan goes up in appeal and Mumbai Indians review it after it is turned down. Ultra edge shows a small spike as the ball passes the bat and Mumbai get their man. Ravindra got out for 21 off 16, hitting two fours and a six and CSK were down to 60/2 in the eighth over.
While Jasprit Bumrah kept things tight at one end by conceding only 10 runs in his first two overs, CSK continued to prosper from the other with Shivam Dube helping himself to three boundaries, two of them off successive deliveries, off Hardik Pandya’s first over, which cost Mumbai Indians 15 runs.
Gaikwad, who was dropped by Rohit Sharma off Madhwal when on 40, went on to smash a six each off Madhwal and Coetzee in successive overs to complete his half-century off 33 balls, hitting three fours and as many sixes. He and Dube also raised fifty runs in their partnership for the third wicket off 30 balls.
Dube, who started with three fours off Pandya, slapped and pulled Romario Shepherd for two boundaries and then in the 14th over, Shepherd for back-to-back sixes, two superb efforts that were followed by a boundary off a short ball past the deep midwicket which left the fans delirious in the stands. Gaikwad then scythed a low full toss off his wrists for another boundary as the over cost Mumbai Indians 22 runs. Dube bought fifty off 28 balls.
Gaikwad struck Madhwal for a six and four off successive balls, advancing down the wicket to blast a six off Madhwal despite the bowler going wide. With runs flowing easily, skipper Hardik Pandya brought himself into the attack and was rewarded for his courageous decision when he got his counterpart with an off-cutter, inducing a mishit that went straight to Nabi at long-on. Gaikwad’s superb innings produced 69 runs off 40 balls and was studded with five boundaries and as many sixes. He and Dube added 90 runs for the third wicket in quick time.
The crowd that was till then going “Rohit, Rohit”, started chanting the name of the Mumbai Indians skippers as Pandya got a wicket for two runs in that over.
Daryl Mitchell was out for 17 off 14 but Mahendra Singh Dhoni hammered Pandya for a hat-trick of sixes in the final over that cost 26 runs as CSK posted a par score of 206/4 in 20 overs. Shivam Dube remained unbeaten on 66 off 36 balls while Dhoni finished on 20 not out off four deliveries as CSK set Mumbai Indians a target of 207.
Though Bumrah was at his usual frugal self giving 27 runs in his four overs, Pandya ended with 2-43 courtesy of Dhoni’s three sixes.
Mumbai Indians conceded too many runs in the middle overs as Gaikwad and Dube milked the bowling to help them score 101 runs from the 7th to 15th overs. Mumbai Indians skipper Pandya also left experts baffled as he did not give his full quota to Mohd Nabi who gave away only 19 runs in three overs while fellow spinner Shreyas Gopal got only one over in he took one wicket for nine runs. He took upon himself the responsibility to bowl the final over and was carted around by Dhoni.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 206/4 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 69, Shivam Dube 66 not out, MS Dhoni 20 not out; Hardik Pandya 2-43) beat Mumbai Indians 186/6 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 105 not out, Tilak Varma 31; Matheesha Pathirana 4-28).