It was an uneventful evening for the Mumbai Indians as they suffered a tough defeat by 20 runs against their biggest rivals, Chennai Super Kings. While MI were able to get a score at a decent rate, it was the skipper, Hardik Pandya who proved to cost the side, the win by giving away 20 runs in the final over thanks to some brilliant power-hitting by MS Dhoni.
Up until the final over of the first innings, CSK were only at 180 runs and MS Dhoni was not even in the middle. The skipper, Hardik Pandya entrusted himself to do the job in the final over as both Akash Madhwal and Romario Shepherd were fairly expensive with the ball. The over started on a positive note as after a few wides and a boundary, Pandya was able to dismiss Daryl Mitchell with a full toss but the batter was unable to clear the boundary at the long-on region. However, the legend himself, MS Dhoni was able to showcase his finishing prowess by smashing three consecutive sixes in the final over to help the side get over the 200-run mark.
Speaking in the post-match coverage with Star Sports, legendary Indian batter, Sunil Gavaskar is not happy with Pandya’s strategy or execution in the final over. He blasted the Indian all-rounder for his poor show in the final over, which proved to be the difference.
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He said,” One six is fine, the next one is again a length ball when you know that this batter is looking for a length ball to hit, and the third ball is a full-toss on the leg side when he’s looking to hit for a six”.
Despite the 90-run partnership between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Shivam Dube through the middle stages, Gavaskar reckons that CSK should have been restricted to a lower total which could have given MI the crucial win over their biggest rivals.
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He added,” Absolutely ordinary bowling, ordinary captaincy, I mean they should have been restricted. Ruturaj Gaikwad had batted so well along with Shivam Dube despite that I do believe they should have been restricted to 185-190″.
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MI are currently eighth on the points table with four points. They have played six games of which they have only won two. They play their next game against Punjab Kings at the Mullanpur Stadium in Mohali on April 18.
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