Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of tonight's Indian Premier League encounter between the Chennai Super Kings and the Mumbai Indians from the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Malinga's four-wicket haul coupled with Rohit Sharma's 67 helps Mumbai Indians complete a double over Chennai Super Kings, and with it takes Mumbai to the No. 2 spot on the points table.
◘ Malinga to bowl out. Harbhajan Singh holes out. Wicket No. 3 for the Sri Lankan veteran. Imran Tahir comes to the crease. Santner, at the other end, is having fun, hits Malinga for a six. Malinga has his revenge, removes Santner to complete a 46-run win over CSK.
◘ Malinga back into the attack. Santner has launched Malinga over the ropes for six. The off-pace cutter gets rid of CSK's last hope, Bravo. That should be game, set and match for Mumbai. 11 runs and a wicket off it. Bumrah to continue. Deepak Chahar comes to the crease. Bumrah gets Chahar caught. The end is near! Harbhajan Singh at the other end. Four off it and a wicket. 3-0-10-2 Bumrah's figures so far.
◘ Anukul Roy to continue. Just four coming off it in the end. Hardik to continue. Starts by conceding two singles and then bowls a no-ball. Free hit coming up. And Bravo has helped it over third-man for four. The crowd comes alive ! 10 from that eventful Hardik over. Chennai needs 76 runs in 36 balls. Rahul Chahar to bowl out. Bravo pulls one disdainfully for a much-needed boundary. Eight off it. CSK 88/6 after 15 overs.
◘ Debutant Anukul Roy into the attack. Starts off with a wide. Make that two wides and what's worser? He drops a chance off his own bowling. Third wide in the over. Anukul Roy gets a wicket! Shorey holes out. Seven runs and a wicket. Dwwayne Bravo is out in the middle. Chahar to continue. Four off it in the end. Bumrah is back into the attack. He gets rid of Vijay and CSK are in deep trouble now. Six down for 66. After deliberating on it for a while, third-umpire has given that out. Suryakumar grabbed a low catch at backward point. The soft signal was out, umpires went upstairs and the TV umpire has ruled in favour of the fielding side. Just two coming off it. Santner is the new man in. CSK 66/6 after 12 overs.
◘ Leggie Rahul Chahar has been brought into the attack. Just three coming off that over. Krunal to continue. He has gone for just three from his two overs. Cleans up Kedar! Second wicket for Krunal. What a night he is having. Dhruv Shorey is the new man at the crease. Just four off it. Brilliant from the elder Pandya brother. Chahar to continue. Six off it. CSK 53/4 after 9 overs .
◘ Raina departs. Hardik Pandya strikes with the first ball off his first over. Ambati Rayudu joins Vijay. A trademark leg glance from Vijay for four. He follows it up with a maximum. 12 off Hardik's first over. Krunal strikes in the very next over, cleans up Rayudu. Exceptional over just a one run and a wicket. Kedar Jadhav joins Vijay. Jasprit Bumrah has been introduced into the attack. Jadhav gets a single. He gets a boundary to end the last over; a valiant effort from Krunal goes in vain. CSK 40/3 after 6 overs.
◘ Vijay gets off the mark with a single. Watson opens his account with a four; follows it up with another four. GONE! Caught! Watson departs. Raina is the new man at the crease. Nine off the first over. Krunal Pandya to share the new ball. Only two off it. Malinga to continue. Vijay gets a four, just about clears the fielders in the inner circle. DROPPED! Anukul Roy drops a sitter off Vijay. CSK 22/1 after 3 overs.
Murali Vijay, Shane Watson to open. Lasith Malinga with the new ball.
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Mumbai Indians rode on Rohit Sharma's 67 and cameos from Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard to reach 155/4 at the end of 20 overs. Mitchell Santner was the pick of the bowlers for CSK, returning figures of two for 13.
◘ Chahar to bowl his last over. Pollard gets four runs, much needed one. 10 off it. Bravo to bowl the last over. Pollard welcomes him with a four. Hardik follows it up with another cracking boundary. He then launches Bravo over deep mid-wicket for six. 17 off the last over. MI 155/4 after 20 overs.
◘ Rohit takes on Tahir and gets a four. And another one races away to the fence. Two back-to-back fours. He hammers a six to end the over. Expensive over, 16 off it. Santner to bowl out. He gets the priced wicket of Rohit Sharma, who departs after a scoring his first fifty of the season. Pollard is the new man in. Just one run off his last over. Santner 4-0-13-2. Bravo is back into the attack. Six off it. Excellent from Bravo. MI 128/4 after 18 overs.
◘ Santner has broken the partnership; Lewis holes out trying to up the ante. Krunal Pandya is the new man in. Rohit reaches his fifty with a single. Good over from Mitch. Two runs and a wicket. Imran Tahir is back into the attack and strikes straightaway, removes Krunal. Hardik comes to the crease. Only two off that over. Santner to continue. Just two off it. MI 105/3 after 15 overs.
◘ Dwayne Bravo has been brought into the attack . Two dots to start the over. And a wide to follow it up. Lewis gets a single and gets off the strike. Single to end the over. Five off it. Mitchell Santner to roll his arm. Beats Rohit with turn. Rohit carves this through deep backward point for four. Eight coming off it. Bravo to continue. Seven off it. MI 99/1 after 12 overs.
◘ Leggie Imran Tahir has been introduced into the attack . Six singles off it. Bhajji to bowl out. He has conceded nine off his first three overs so far. Rohit takes the aerial route against Bhajji, gets a maximum. And another six, this time to long-on. Dot to finish off the over. 14 off it. Bhajji 4-0-23-0. Tahir to continue. Lewis joins the fun, hammers one over long-off and follows it up with a four. 14 to end the over. MI 79/1 after 9 overs.
◘ Harbhajan to continue. Tight over, just one off it. Deepak Chahar to bowl his third. Lewis gets a boundary. Follows it up with another four, although off an inside edge. And Rohit wraps up the over with an effortless pull for four. 16 off that over. Bhajji to continue. Three off the first ball. Only four off it. MI 45/1 after 6 overs.
◘ Rohit Sharma gets off the mark with a boundary off the first ball. Nine off the first over. Harbhajan Singh to share the new ball. Two singles off the first three balls. Four off it in the end. De Kock welcomes Chahar with a maximum and follows it up with a boundary. Good comeback from Chahar. GONE! De Kock has holed out. Mumbai has lost an early wicket. Evin Lewis comes to the crease. 11 off it. MI 24/1 after 3 overs.
Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock to open for Mumbai, Deepak Chahar with the new ball.
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TOSS UPDATE: Suresh Raina has won the toss and Chennai Super Kings will bowl.
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(c), Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Anukul Roy, Rahul Chahar, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Shane Watson, Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina(c), Ambati Rayudu(w), Dhruv Shorey, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir
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FOLLOW: 2019 IPL FULL COVERAGE
Mumbai Indians will look to unsettle Chennai Super Kings to get closer to the playoffs in the high-octane clash at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
Here's Wriddhaayan's preview of this evening's contest:
CSK vs MI: Three-time champs CSK, MI to battle for points
As the Mumbai Indians team bus entered the stadium premises on the eve of the high-octane clash against Chennai Super Kings, a group of spectators had gathered to welcome their heroes. You read that right. People in this part of the country respect the fact that Mumbai is also a three-time Indian Premier League champion.
A MI-CSK clash is always worth the expensive tickets. It’s a game of nerves. And now that the ICC Cricket World Cup noise has just begun, this fixture will test the mindset of the big guns.
Six World Cup-bound India players will be part of the fixture at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma has not been able to convert his starts. Being a big-match player, this could be his game. All-rounder Hardik Pandya seems fine with his newly-acquired helicopter shot and decent spells with the ball. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been economically tight.
Even after 11 years, CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni remains the best player for the yellow army. He has been striking the ball at 137.11 in this IPL.
Kedar Jadhav will be hungry to make an impact; except an exhausting 58 against MI in the away fixture, he didn’t really live up to the ‘utility cricketer’ tag.
Left-arm spin bowler Ravindra Jadeja has chipped in occasionally with a couple of wickets here and there, but he is yet to showcase his all-round abilities.
READ: IPL 2019: Riyan Parag special helps Rajasthan beat Kolkata
Training session
MI regrouped after a four-day break. World Cup-bound players and a few key members of the squad were released to recharge batteries before heading into the final leg of the high-pressure league.
The players returned and picked up from where they left. The MI side had an intense training session that involved a lot of running and fielding. The bat and ball came much later.
MI is unlikely to tinker with the combination it had against the Rajasthan Royals. It will be wise to play both the leggies, Rahul Chahar and Mayank Markande, on the spin-friendly Chepauk strip.
Rahul will also unite with his cousin, Deepak Chahar, who is CSK’s go-to paceman in the league.
WATCH: CSK vs MI preview: clash of champions as playoffs come calling
Coming on the back of a comfortable win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, CSK looked relaxed at the nets, taking turns to bat and bowl.
Having booked a virtual playoffs-berth, CSK can perhaps try out Dhruv Shorey in place of Ambati Rayudu, who has been off-colour.
Harbhajan Singh, who claimed crucial wickets including that of Jonny Bairstow in his first over in the last fixture, is likely to retain his spot.
Overseas stars
Shane Watson’s return to form is not a good sign for MI. The former Australia cricketer, who now plays solely as a batsman, fired a 53-ball 96 the other night against Sunrisers. Faf du Plessis missed out on a big score but he has been in good touch.
ALSO READ: World Cup has been a distraction for players, says Hussey
South Africa vice-captain Quinton de Kock has been a brute force for MI at the top of the order. His wicket should be on CSK’s priority list. Not to forget the experience and just the presence of Lasith Malinga in the side.
MI has replaced Alzarri Joseph with Beuran Hendricks, who arrived on Thursday night. He is unlikely to feature in this game.
The match will be streamed live on Hotstar.
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