Chennai Super Kings vaulted to the second spot in the IPL 2023 standings and broke the Chepauk jinx against Mumbai Indians with a six-wicket win on Saturday.
M.S. Dhoni’s side snapped a three-match winless run, beating the visitor which fumbled from the start. The win also marked the Super Kings’ first triumph in six meetings over MI at home since 2012.
MI’s attempt to make a fight out of a 139-run total got off on the wrong foot when Cameron Green overstepped to concede the first run, succeeded by a lofted straight-drive from Ruturaj Gaikwad for four.
Ruturaj’s two effortless swivel-pull maximums and a straight drive for four off Arshad Khan helped CSK make its intentions clear in the PowerPlay. Devon Conway joined the act by flicking and slicing Jofra Archer for fours before Rohit Sharma’s desperation bore fruit. Leggie Piyush Chawla struck with his first delivery as Ruturaj top-edged a short ball to wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan in the fifth over.
While Conway and Ajinkya Rahane effortlessly reduced the deficit in the middle-overs, Chawla returned with a sharp googly to trap the latter on 21. Middle-order bulwark Shivam Dube’s sixes lent speed before Conway’s watchful knock ended on 44, prompting a Dhoni teaser ahead of Ravindra Jadeja. The CSK skipper, fittingly, finished the procession with a single and 14 balls to spare.
Earlier in the afternoon, after being asked to bat on a fresh black soil pitch, MI captain Rohit demoted himself from the opener’s slot for the first time in 62 innings, pushing Cameron Green up with Kishan.
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