IPL 2018: It's the night of the 'Champion'! Bravo stars in CSK's comeback win vs MI
Mumbai: There were nerves, selection surprises, injury scares, DRS debut, Pandya show, last-over drama and then there was Dwayne ‘Champion’ Bravo(0/25), with death-over gems with the ball, wearing florescent blue shoes, and six-hitting rage with the bat (68 off 30 balls), wearing white shoes, as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) to mark a memorable return in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 opener at the Wankhede Stadium here on Saturday.
While MS Dhoni and co took the field with “emotions under control” but with a few selection surprises – Deepak Chahar over Shardul Thakur and Ambati Rayudu over Sam Billings and Murali Vijay for the opener’s slot -, MI, meanwhile, did their share of surprising move as they handed IPL debut to Mayank Markande.
Put in to bat, MI did not enjoy brightest of starts as Chahar (1/14) troubled Rohit Sharma throughout his 18-ball 15-run stay in the middle as the young medium-pacer and Shane Watson (2/29) kept MI in check, conceding only 26 runs in the first five overs. While Watson got rid of Rohit and Chahar scalped West Indies’ IPL debutant Evin Lewis to build pressure, Suryakumar Yadav (43 off 29 balls) and Ishan Kishan (40 off 29 balls) counterattacked with 52-ball 78-run stand. While Surya, playing on his homeground, played some gorgeous shots, Ishan was severe against Imran Tahir (1/23) as MI were 97/2 from 12 overs.
Dhoni, who otherwise would have liked to have Watson bowling in the death overs, had to bring in Watson as early as in 13th over. For CSK, that moved paid off as Watson removed Surya, caught at deep square-leg by former MI man Harbhajan Singh. Tahir, who had conceded 18 in his first over, then dismissed Kishan in the 15th over.
MI had pinned their hopes on Pandya brothers and they did not disappoint. While Bravo made up for his first expensive over, Mark Wood leaked runs in the death as Krunal and Hardik (22 off 20 balls) put in an unbeaten 52-run stand in 32 balls, with the left-hander hammering unbeaten 41 off 22 balls, as MI scored 165 runs, batting first.
CSK, opening with Rayudu (22 off 19 balls) and Watson (16 off 14 balls), had a solid start. But Hardik, who had an injury scare following a collision with Bravo on the final ball of the MI innings, started spoiling CSK’s party right from his first over as he gave MI their first breakthrough, removing Watson in the 4th over before joining forces with brother Krunal to dismiss Raina (4 off 6 balls) in the sixth over.
After Hardik, it was the turn of MI’s surprise pick, Mayank Markande, who ran through the CSK middle order, including a Dhoni LBW on DRS. The young leg-spinner scalped three wickets – Rayudu, Dhoni (5 off 5 balls) and Chahar (0 off 1 ball) – for 23 runs to make a mark.
CSK were tottering by the end of 13th over, with Watson, Raina, Dhoni back in the dugout and Kedar Jadhav, joining them with a pulled hamstring and the scorecard reading 84/6.
It was MI’s game then and then Bravo turned up with his “best-ever innings" even as CSK continued to lost wickets at the other end. Such was his impact that even “one of the best death bowlers in the business” Jasprit Bumrah suffered. CSK needed 47 runs off last three overs, with two wickets in hand and Bravo batting on 29 from 19 balls. Then, began the drama as Bravo unleashed. The 18th over, bowled by Mitchell McClenaghan (1/44), went for 20 runs, with the West Indian scoring 19, hitting two sixes and a four.
(Photo: Rajesh Jadhav / Deccan Chronicle)
The task looked uphill as Bumrah came in to bowl the 19th over. Not for Bravo, not on this Saturday night. While Bumrah (1/37) dismissed him on the final ball of the penultimate over, he took the Indian pacer to the cleaners, with three sixes and overall, 20 runs in the over. While the drama was not yet over as Jadhav (24* off 22 balls) walked out, fighting to stand on his feet, and finish the game with a six and a four in the last over as CSK pulled off an absolute heist to complete a sensational win on the IPL comeback.
