Mumbai Indians (MI) succumbed to a heavy 20-run defeat at the hands of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 29 of the IPL 2024 season at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday (April 14).
Asked to bat first, the defending champions piled up a massive 206/4 on the board. While Ruturaj Gaikwad (69 off 40) and Shivam Dube (66* off 38) struck fifties, MS Dhoni (20* off 4) provided perfect finish to the CSK innings.
In reply, the hosts finished on 186/6 even though Rohit Sharma got his second IPL ton in 61 balls. Rohit (105* off 63 balls) waged a lone battle for MI but he didn’t get ample support from the other end. Tilak Varma was the next best scorer with 31 off 20 balls.
Matheesha Pathirana was the pick of the bowlers for CSK, claiming four wickets by conceding only 28 runs in his four overs. He accounted for the dismissals of Ishan Kishan (23), Suryakumar Yadav (0), Tilak Varma (31) and Romario Shepherd (1).
After the loss, MI skipper Hardik Pandya acknowledged Pathirana's pivotal role in CSK's victory. He also lauded the strategic acumen of Dhoni, who smashed three successive sixes in the final over of CSK’s innings against Pandya.
"It (target) was definitely gettable, but they bowled pretty well. Pathirana was the difference. They were smart with the plans and their approach. They got the hang of it, there's a man behind the stumps (Dhoni) who tells them what's working, that helps," Pandya said in the post-match interaction.
"It (pitch) was holding up a bit and getting difficult. It was about batting well and keeping the intent. We were going quite well (in the run chase) till Pathirana came into the attack and took those two wickets," he added.
"It was about what is best at that time, we could have done something different. I like to play percentage cricket, it would have been difficult for him (Dube) against seamers rather than spin. We are on the road for the next four games, need to play good cricket, need to keep the intensity high," he further remarked.
With this defeat, MI slipped to the eighth spot in the 10-team points table. It was MI’s fourth defeat in six games this season.
Mumbai Indians will next face Punjab Kings in Chandigarh on Thursday (April 18).
