Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bounced back from two consecutive defeats to beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by six wickets in match 49 of TATA IPL 2023. The CSK bowlers put on a disciplined, accurate, and impactful performance, restricting MI to 139/8. Matheesha Pathirana led the way with an excellent spell of 3/15.
In response, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway gave CSK a breezy start, hitting a slew of boundaries early. Piyush Chawla struck straight away, removing Gaikwad (30 off 16) off the first ball. CSK continued to score steadily, and Shivam Dube arrived and went on the attack straight away, cracking a couple of sixes off debutant Raghav Goyal. He added 25(22) with Conway to take CSK closer before the CSK opener was trapped LBW for 44(42).
Earlier, CSK won the toss and elected to bowl first. The CSK bowlers ripped through the Mumbai Indians top order early, and disciplined bowling and terrific ground fielding made sure MI were restricted to 34/3 inside the Powerplay.
Suryakumar Yadav and Nehal Wadhera then started the rebuilding process, and they upped the ante in the eighth over, cracking a couple of fours to make it 11 off the Moeen Ali over. Suryakumar brought up the 50-run stand, off 42 balls, with a four via extra cover drive as MI reached 64/3 at the halfway stage.
However, MI received a huge blow when Matheesha Pathirana dismissed Suryakumar (33 off 29) with a superb delivery that clipped the top of off stump. Wadhera and Archer struggled to get going, and Pathirana picked up two more wickets in the 18th over to restrict MI to 139/8.
CSK started the chase well, with Gaikwad lofting one over mid-on and then flicking one through mid-wicket for a couple of fours in the first over from Cameron Green. He then went after Arshad, smashing a couple of sixes off pull and hitting a couple of well-placed fours to make it 20 runs off the over.
Conway got into the act in the next over, cracking a couple of fours off Jofra Archer, as CSK reached 46/0 from four overs. Rohit Sharma brought Piyush Chawla into the attack, and he struck straight away, removing Gaikwad off the first ball. The boundaries dried up, and Rayudu finally ended the drought with a massive six off Stubbs for the first boundary in 25 balls. He, however, departed the next ball as he cut one straight into the hands of backward point.
Dube arrived and went on the attack straight away, cracking a couple of sixes off debutant Raghav Goyal. He added 25(22) with Conway to take CSK closer before the CSK opener was trapped LBW for 44(42). With 8 needed off 17, Dube pulled one over fine leg for a six, and Dhoni then hit the winning run much to the delight of the Chepauk crowd as CSK cruised to a six-wicket win with 14 balls to spare.