The defending champions chased down a total in excess of 200 runs for the first time in their history as they laid their claim to the title.
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Match 27 of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) saw the tournament’s two most successful sides, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) go to battle, and the match lived up to its billing. It was the definition of a nail-biter and worthy of being possibly the match of the tournament so far. CSK had posted 218 runs on the board, and all hope seemed lost for Rohit Sharma’s men until Kieron Pollard stepped in. The West Indian smashed an unbeaten 87 runs off 34 deliveries and brought the points home for MI. He recorded the fastest half-century in the IPL 2021. The game also saw Jasprit Bumrah conceding 56 runs, the highest in his IPL career so far. It was the first time MI have chased down a total in excess of 200 runs.
Kieron Pollard wins the Man of the Match award for his stupendous knock of 87* off just 34 deliveries.
Take a bow, Polly ??#VIVOIPL #MIvCSK pic.twitter.com/puSx7iXS3p
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 1, 2021
The defending champions were off to a very strong start and it seemed like the match was going to go all the way to the wire. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock constructed an opening stand of 71 runs in 7.3 overs. However, MI lost three wickets within the span of 10 runs, including their two set batters. Then came the onslaught of Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya. The two set up an 89-run stand for the fourth wicket with Krunal making 32 off 23 deliveries. Hardik Pandya contributed with 16 runs off seven deliveries.
MS Dhoni’s bowlers did not do much better than MI’s, as they were smashed all around the park. Shardul Thakur conceded 56 runs in his four overs and picked up one wicket while Deepak Chahar went for 37 off his four without any success. Ravindra Jadeja picked up a wicket in his three overs while conceding 29 runs as Moeen Ali picked one wicket and conceded one run in his solitary over. Sam Curran had a decent performance as he took three wickets for 34 runs in his four overs. Lungi Ngidi conceded a whopping 62 runs in his four overs.
CSK posted a humongous total of 218 on the board in the first innings. The charge was led by Ambati Rayudu who finally showed fans just how good he is exactly as he scored a devastating 72 runs off just 27 deliveries in an innings that comprised 4 ours and seven maximums. He was not the only CSK player to reach a half-century. Faf du Plessis 50 runs off just 28 deliveries and Moeen Ali made 58 off 36 deliveries. Ravindra Jadeja also contributed towards the end with his run-a-ball cameo of 22 runs. The batting display will leave a massive dent in MI’s bowling unit and it might affect their game in the next few IPL 2021 matches.
Abysmal would probably be an understatement if one were to describe MI’s bowling display in the match. Every single bowler went for runs, including Jasprit Bumrah who had his worst IPL game to date. He did, however, manage to pick up a wicket. Kiwi pacer Trent Boult went for 42 runs and he picked one wicket while Kieron Pollard bowled two overs and ended with figures of 2/12. No one else got amongst the wickets as Rahul Chahar and Dhawal Kulkarni conceded 32 and 48 runs respectively.
