CHENNAI: Mumbai Indians slam defending champions Chennai Super Kings by 8 wickets to get the Indian Premier League 2012 started at the M.A. Chidambaram here 04-04-12
The Champions League winners overhaul the paltry 113 target with 19 balls to standby, as their latest gaining – South African player Richard Levi – irritating a racy 50runs on IPL debut. Levi’s firework at the top of the order took Mumbai to 69 in a shade under 8 over’s – by which time the match had finished as a contest.
A share of the credit must go to Mumbai Indians bowling, which was at its warning best against a bizarrely clueless Chennai batting order on a track with bizarre tennis ball bounce – as Sunil Gavaskar describe it. The visiting side elected to field, and disallowed the title holder to get a move on. Only Suresh Raina (36) cross 20 as Chennai huffed and panting against Lasith Malinga, Kieran Pollard and Pragyan Ojha, who in concert claimed six victims while conceding just 48 runs in 11.5 over’s.
The 2nd innings belonged to Levi. The 24-year-old — scorer of the fastest T20I century — spared no bowler in his offensive. He began by picking fours off Doug Bollinger and the attack reached a crescendo when Ravindra Jadeja came on to bowl. Chennai’s only get in the latest auction was taken for 16 in his 1st and only over of the match.
Levi strike another 6 in the next over – against R. Ashwin – and a 3rd maximum in the over that followed – bowled by Dwayne Bravo – to reach his 50 runs in 34 balls on IPL debut. He was out as he went after Bravo again, but by that time his part of the bargain was struck, and then some. At the other end, Sachin Tendulkar was not quite a mute spectator to the butchery. The expert had faced just 12 balls to Richard Levi 35, but had made them count, none in a more telling manner than the one hurled by Albie Morkel which was dismiss for an exquisite cover-driven six.
Rohit Sharma depart for a blob and quickly after Tendulkar retired hurt on 16, after Bollinger rap him on the finger, leaving Mumbai 41 to win in 11 over’s. Like in many IPL home games, Mahindra Singh Dhoni sensed an opening and look to his slow bowlers to pry it open further. He deploy a slip for Jakati and packed the ring with fielders – but the ask for Mumbai did not need any recourse to the think and the target was achieve without drama, as Ambati Rayudu and James Franklin stuck to the charge at hand.
Earlier, Mumbai let CSK begin their campaign in the normal way – batting 1st on a relaid wicket the nature of which would be unearthing only once an innings was finished. Taking strike 1st turned out to be Chennai Super Kings last hurrah as the batsmen struggle from the get go. Rayudu swoop down from extra cover and curtailed FAF du Plessis’ debut with a straight hit in the 1st over, and the full house in attending had to wait 20 deliveries for the 1st fours – an inside-out punch by Suresh Raina, all the way over long-off.
Murali Vijay nonstop his wretched form, scratching around before beating James Franklin into the hands of mid-wicket. Then began the lone Brilliant phase for Chennai, as IPL large Suresh Raina got together with Dwayne Bravo. The two added 37 in 4 over’s, taking Chennai to the brink of a revival, before Pragyan Ojha dismiss both in successive overs.
Raina was done in by a wider offering that was slashed to sweeper cover. In his next over, Bravo walloped the left-arm spinner, but a marginal impairment in timing cause the ball to come to rest too early in the shovel-like hands of Pollard at long-on.
Chennai lost its last 8wickets for just 37 runs, as batsmen at home and departed with the frequency of a Metro train. 2 more run-outs followed – accounting for Dhoni and R. Ashwin – and really the flow of wickets had extra to do with Chennai playing directly into the hands of the field than with anything special on the part of the bowlers.
