Chennai Super Kings lost their premier seamer Deepak Chahar to injury after he had bowled just one over. They were already without the match-winner from their last game, Moeen Ali (illness), and Ben Stokes (injured), but Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner combined to carve up Mumbai Indians’ middle order on a Wankhede pitch that offered some grip and turn.

Mumbai boy Tushar Deshpande also pitched in with the wickets of Rohit Sharma and Tim David as Super Kings limited Mumbai to 157 for 8. Ajinkya Rahane, another Mumbai boy, dashed out of the blocks for Super Kings, hitting a 19-ball half-century to set up their chase. His 27-ball 61 on Super Kings debut allowed Ruturaj Gaikwad and rest of the batters breathing room after Devon Conway had fallen for a duck.

In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, who has been sidelined from the entire tournament with a back injury, and Jofra Archer, who sat out of this game as a precautionary measure, Mumbai’s attack lacked experience and penetration.

Rohit, Kishan start strongly for Mumbai

As Santner suggested during the mid-innings chat, the ball slid onto the bat nicely in the early exchanges before the pitch slowed down. Rohit charged out of the crease third ball and pumped Chahar over extra-cover before backing away and carving Deshpande over point for four in the next over.

Sisanda Magala had a tough initiation to the IPL as Ishan Kishan took him for three fours in his first over, the third of the innings, which cost 14 runs overall. Magala, a death-bowling specialist from South Africa, was operating early in the powerplay because Chahar had left the field, clutching his hamstring, after bowling the first over.

But Deshpande stepped up, drawing movement off the surface to beat Rohit’s outside edge and hit the top of middle and off with a beauty. Kishan then smashed Magala for two more fours, helping Mumbai end the powerplay at 61 for 1.

Left-arm spin is right for CSK

In Super Kings’ previous game at Chepauk against Lucknow Super Giants, Jadeja bowled just one over as MS Dhoni kept him away from first Kyle Mayers and then Nicholas Pooran. On Saturday, Dhoni brought Jadeja into the attack immediately after the powerplay and the allrounder responded by having Kishan hole out for 32 off 21 balls.

Jadeja kept bowling into the Wankhede pitch and came away with the wickets of Tilak Varma (22) and Cameron Green (12) as well.

Santner might not have played this game had Stokes or Moeen been available for selection, but he proved his worth once again. In stark contrast to Jadeja, Santner tossed the ball up at a much slower pace and dismissed both Suryakumar Yadav (1) and the left-handed Arshad Khan, who had been promoted to No.6 to counter him and Jadeja.

Tim David, who was pushed down to No.7, went 6, 4, 6 against Deshpande before the seamer struck back to have him dragging an offcutter to deep midwicket. After taking a pasting in the powerplay, Magala unleashed his yorkers and slower variations at the death to finish with 4-0-37-1.

Rahane slots into Uthappa role

After Conway fell in familiar fashion, chopping on in the first over, Rahane went on an unfamiliar boundary-hitting spree in the powerplay He crashed Arshad for 6, 4, 4, 4, 4 in the fourth over, and by the end of the powerplay he had zoomed to his half-century, setting Super Kings up for a net-run-rate-boosting victory.

Before Robin Uthappa retired from international and Indian cricket last September, he used to be the enforcer in the powerplay and middle overs for Super Kings. Rahane slotted into this role straightaway, affording Gaikwad space to go at a run a ball or thereabouts.

Mumbai brought in left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya as their Impact Player, but Super Kings messed with their plans by promoting their spin-hitter Shivam Dube to No. 4. Kartikeya eventually bowled Dube for 28 off 26 balls, but the game was all but up by then. Rayudu, who replaced Chahar as Super Kings’ Impact Player, and Gaikwad completed the formalities with seven wickets and almost two overs to spare.

Super Kings notched up their second successive victory and will be bolstered further by the arrival of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana ahead of their home game against Rajasthan Royals on April 12. On the other hand, Mumbai slipped to their second successive loss and are still searching for their first points this season.

(cricinfo)

Scores:

Mumbai Indians 157 for 8 wkts in 20 Overs (Tim David 31, Ishan Kishan 32; Ravindra Jadeja 3/20)

Chennai Super Kings 159 for 3 wkts in 18.1 Overs (Ajinkya Rahane 61; Jason Behrendorff 1/24)