Mumbai: Sanju Samson carried his bat with a splendid 101 not out, while Akeal Hosein’s stunning 4/17 powered Chennai Super Kings to a crushing 103-run victory over a listless Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League clash here on Thursday.
Samson stood tall with a 54-ball 101 (10x4s, 8x6s) in the first half, which took a faltering CSK to a challenging 207/6.
In reply, the Mumbai Indians endured a horror start, slumping to 11 for three inside the first three overs, and never recovered as they were bowled out for 104 in 19 overs.
Samson’s hundred may have underlined CSK’s batting effort, but it wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that they won this game with the ball in the Powerplay. Akeal Hosein, who was left out against Sunrisers Hyderabad, showed CSK what they missed. He got the ball to drop and turn as Danish Malewar edged behind for a duck in the first over.Mukesh Choudhary then tied Quinton de Kock up with a string of dots, before the latter played one onto his stumps. Hosein made it three wickets in as many overs for CSK as he cleaned up Naman Dhir, who swung across the line in vain. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma were kept quiet for the rest of the Powerplay, which MI ended at 29/3, effectively shutting them out in a 208-run chase.
Ruturaj Gaikwad took the attack to Hardik Pandya and was off to a brisk start, but AM Ghazanfar sent him packing for 22 in the third over. With no Ayush Mhatre to call upon, Samson took charge, powering CSK past 50 by the end of the fourth over before Sarfaraz Khan joined in on the act, getting off the mark with a boundary off Bumrah.
He then attacked Mitchell Santner for a couple of boundaries before perishing to the sweep as he was bowled, with CSK sending Shivam Dube in the final Powerplay over. Despite those two wickets, a Powerplay of 73/2 laid the perfect launchpad for CSK to go big.
It was an innings embellished with exquisite strokeplay, starting with a cover drive off Bumrah in the first over. A dab between short third and backward point and a host of pulls stood out, as did his sense of batsmanship. He attacked favorable matchups while playing out Bumrah and Ghazanfar, who was the pick of the MI bowlers. Once CSK lost Dewald Brevis and potentially threatened to test their lack of depth with the bat, Samson took it upon himself to bat through.
All this while getting to his fifty off 26 balls while never looking like he was out of control. He ramped up the gears again at the death and farmed strike in the final over as the set batter, eventually notching up a hundred off the final ball with a boundary over square leg. It was a knock that carried CSK despite a host of cameos around, for the visitors had their eyes on a total upwards of 220 at the halfway mark.
He picked up a wicket, getting Kartik Sharma out off a full toss in a manner eerily similar to how he dismissed MS Dhoni in this corresponding fixture last year. Bumrah bowled the first over again and kept things tight, although he went for 13 in his second after Samson gave CSK momentum. Bowling overs 17 and 19, Bumrah’s yorkers were unhittable as Kartik found out before his dismissal. The ace speedster gave away just two runs in the 17th and 10 in the 19th, with Samson ramping a free hit to the fine leg fence. His 1/31 went a long way in MI, restricting CSK to 207.
Not after they were rocked early on. Choudhary was surprisingly given his fourth over on the bounce and it produced 16 runs, while Noor Ahmad’s first ball was speared short and way down leg. In spite of all that, MI were 69/3 at the end of the 10th over, needing to go at nearly 14 an over thereon. But once Hosein returned to the attack and had Tilak playing on, another procession began. Noor landed the killer blows, dismissing Pandya and Sherfane Rutherford off consecutive deliveries before Hosein ended with a fourth. Post that, the lower-order went through the motions with MI folding for 104 with an over left in their innings.
Mitchell Santner’s splendid catch to dismiss Kartik came at a cost, as he landed badly on his shoulder which he later iced in the dressing room. But he was subbed out for concussion, bringing Thakur into the chase as a like-for-like replacement. It didn’t help MI’s cause though as he finished with a 12-ball 6.MI have a five-day break at home before they host Sunrisers Hyderabad on Wednesday (April 29). CSK return home and face Gujarat Titans after a much shorter turnaround on Sunday (April 26).
Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 207/6 in 20 overs [Sanju Samson 101* (54), Ruturaj Gaikwad 22 (14); AM Ghazanfar 2-25, Ashwani Kumar 2-37] beat Mumbai Indians 104 in 19 overs [Tilak Varma 37 (29); Akeal Hosein 4-17, Noor Ahmad 2-24, Anshul Kamboj 1-10] by 103 runs.
