Mumbai Indians begins in brilliant fashion

AP Mumbai Indians' skipper Harbhajan Singh (second right), celebrates with teammates the dismissal of Chennai Super Kings' batsman Ravichandran Ashwin (unseen), during the Indian Premier League cricket match in Chennai on Wednesday. 

 

Mumbai Indians stormed the Chennai Super Kings bastion in the inaugural match of the Indian Premier League season five here on Wednesday.

In its first IPL defeat at home since April 15, 2010, CSK went down by eight wickets, collapsing from 75 for two to 112 all out.

The defending champion then saw a rampaging Richard Levi smash a 35-ball 50 on his IPL debut as Mumbai Indians took further control. Gradually, the visitor cut all escape routes.

Employing his bat like a sledgehammer, the 24-year-old South African slog-swept spinners R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja for sixes and bludgeoned paceman Dwayne Bravo over long-on for the maximum. He was eventually held in the deep off Bravo but had done enough by then to earn the Man-of-the-Match award.

Left-arm paceman Doug Bollinger bowled with heart and took out Rohit Sharma with a short-pitched delivery outside off. He then forced Sachin Tendulkar to retire hurt after hitting the maestro on the glove with a lifting ball.

Rousing shot

Earlier, Tendulkar had conjured a moment of magic by creating room and easing paceman Albie Morkel over covers for a rousing six.

Ambati Rayudu and James Franklin closed out the match for Mumbai Indians. Rayudu guided Bollinger over third man for a six to signal an emphatic win for Mumbai Indians.

CSK's collapse was inexplicable. There was no alarming movement for the pacemen nor did the spinners achieve sizable turn.

Collapse

From 75 for two in 9.4 overs, Chennai lost its last eight wickets for 37 runs off 61 deliveries. The figures will worry the host. Not only did CSK witness one batsman after another departing to the dugout but also saw its run-rate drop in dramatic fashion.

The judicious blend of working-the-ball-around batsmanship and heavy hitting, the hallmark of CSK's performances of the past, was missing.

Disciplined bowling

The Mumbai Indians bowling was disciplined and the fielding sharp, but CSK dug the hole for itself. And the three run-outs — the running between wickets lacked conviction — did not help matters either.

To his credit, Harbhajan, apart from winning the toss, led the side capably. He kept the fielders in to create pressure, narrowed down the angles in the deep and rung in the changes well.

Apart from a thrill-a-minute 36 from Suresh Raina, there was little in terms of contributions from the CSK line-up.

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha's spell turned the game on its head. Ojha flighted but was helped by the fact that both Raina and Bravo reached out for him. Raina went after a delivery well outside off to be held at sweeper cover. And Bravo (19), driving fluently through the off-side until that point, picked a delivery beyond leg to be held at long-on.

Mumbai Indians made further inroads. Kieron Pollard, employing his height and shoulders to extract bounce, had Morkel swinging a short one to Ojha at deep square-leg.

Abu Nechim's swift throw from backward point to 'keeper Dinesh Karthik dealt CSK a body blow — its captain Dhoni was making his way back.

Smart catch

Then, Harbhajan took a smart catch when S. Badrinath whipped Pollard. Mumbai Indians was all over CSK.

Earlier, opener Faf du Plessis succumbed to a direct hit from Rayudu from extra-cover. And Murali Vijay, returning from a wrist injury and seeking to find his touch, perished to an uppish flick off left-arm seamer Franklin.

For Mumbai Indians, Lasith Malinga, mixing his pace and sending down telling yorkers, impressed.

SCOREBOARD

Chennai Super Kings: Faf du Plessis (run out) 3 (2b), M. Vijay c Harbhajan b Franklin 10 (17b, 1x4), S. Raina c Malinga b Ojha 36 (26b, 2x4, 1x6), Dwayne Bravo c Pollard b Ojha 19 (19b, 3x4), Albie Morkel c Ojha b Pollard 3 (8b), S. Badrinath c Harbhajan b Pollard 10 (16b), M.S. Dhoni (run out) 4 (6b), R. Jadeja b Malinga 3 (5b), R. Ashwin (run out) 3 (5b), S. Jakati (not out) 6 (10b), D. Bollinger c Rohit b Malinga 3 (5b); Extras (lb-5, w-7): 12; Total (in 19.5 overs): 112.

Fall of wickets: 1-4 (du Plessis), 2-38 (Vijay), 3-75 (Raina), 4-80 (Bravo), 5-85 (Morkel), 6-95 (Dhoni), 7-99 (Badrinath), 8-103 (Ashwin), 9-104 (Jadeja).

Mumbai Indians bowling: Malinga 3.5-0-16-2, Abu Nechim 2-0-17-0, Harbhajan 4-0-24-0, Franklin 2-0-18-1, Ojha 4-0-17-2, Pollard 4-0-15-2.

Mumbai Indians: R. Levi c Bollinger b Bravo 50 (35b, 6x4, 3x6), S. Tendulkar (retired hurt) 16 (15b, 1x4, 1x6), Rohit c Dhoni b Bollinger 0 (3b), A. Rayudu (not out) 18 (18b, 1x6), J. Franklin (not out) 25 (30b, 2x4); Extras (lb-3, w-3): 6; Total (for two wkts. in 16.5 overs): 115.

Fall of wickets: 1-69 (Levi), 2-70 (Rohit).

Chennai Super Kings bowling: Morkel 4-0-20-0, Bollinger 3.5-0-34-1, Ashwin 4-0-20-0, Jadeja 1-0-16-0, Bravo 3-0-14-1, Jakati 1-0-8-0.

Man-of-the-Match: Richard Levi.