It was a humiliating affair for MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings in Sharjah when they faced off against a Rohit Sharma-less Mumbai Indians on Friday. After the stand-in captain for MI Kieron Pollard won the toss and elected to field, CSK suffered a huge batting collapse at the top of the order, going down 24/5 in powerplay.
Sam Curran put on a fighting 52-run innings, but it was not enough for CSK to put on a challenging total. The MS Dhoni-led franchise only put on a target of 115 runs in front of MI, and in a small ground, it proved to be a cakewalk for the defending champions.
With Ishan Kishan an unbeaten 68 runs in 37 balls, and his opening partner Quinton de Kock hammering an unbeaten 47 runs in 37 balls, MI chased down the total with 10 wickets to spare. This is CSK’s biggest defeat in IPL in terms of wickets.
It is also the first time that CSK have lost a match by 10 wickets in the history of the tournament. It is also the biggest defeat for CSK in terms of balls left.
MI chased down the total in 12.2 overs with 46 balls to spare. This surpasses CSK’s previous worst defeat in terms of balls to spare – 40 balls vs Delhi Capitals (known as Delhi Daredevils back then) in 2012.
Speaking after the match, MS Dhoni said at the presentation ceremony: “Well it does hurt. What you need to see is what is going wrong, this year hasn’t been our year. In only one or two games this year we have batted and bowled well together.”
“Whether you lose by ten wickets or eight wickets it hardly matters. All the players are hurting, but they are trying their best,” he added.
Source: IPLT20.com