Dhoni stars in last-over chase to keep MI winless

In another thoroughly entertaining CSK-MI thriller, MS Dhoni emerged the protagonist as he secured a late, final-over win to stretch Mumbai Indians' winless streak in IPL 2022 to seven games. Dhoni finished with an unbeaten 28 off 13 balls, 16 off which came off the last four balls of the run-chase to sink MI's hopes of opening their account.

About that final over first...

Jaydev Unadkat dismissed Dwaine Pretorius on the first ball and Dwayne Bravo turned the strike over to Dhoni on the second, with 16 still to get. Unadkat erred in length while trying to go full and wide and ended up offering a ball in the slot that Dhoni hit for a straight six. The left-arm pacer took the pace off on the next and went short but Dhoni saw that coming, camped back and pulled it to the square leg fence, taking the chase down to 6 off 2 balls. That came down to 4 off 1, which Dhoni polished off with a whip of the wrists on a low full toss that beat the short fine leg fielder to the fence.

MI posted just 155/7. How did it even get to this in the chase?

Thanks to a wobbly start

Ruturaj Gaikwad slashed the first ball of the innings to point, Mitchell Santner at #3 didn't last beyond the third over and Ambati Rayudu's first runs were a couple of sixes off the wicket-taker Daniel Sams and Jasprit Bumrah. Robin Uthappa settled CSK down with a couple of fours too as they reached 38 for 2 in the PowerPlay.

The topsy-turvy chase continued...

Entertainingly, neither side could get a complete grip on the game. Uthappa tried to get a post-PP move on, hitting debutant Hrithik Shokeen for a six, but Unadkat returned in the ninth over to dismiss the opener with a well-disguised off cutter which Uthappa hit to deep square leg fielder. Shivam Dube arrived with his clean-hitting prowess in tow, and carted a gorgeous offside six off Riley Meredith. Just when he and Rayudu looked like the duo to steer the chase from that point, an Ishan Kishan stunner behind the stumps ended Dube's stay.

A sharp take from Pollard made Rayudu Sams's fourth wicket of the night, sending the senior batter back for a 35-ball 40 and leaving the door slightly ajar for MI to push their way back into the contest. Meredith took the lead in that effort, dismissing Ravindra Jadeja in the 16th over where he conceded just five runs. The pendulum swung back and forth as the equation for CSK went from 48 off 24, to 42 off 18, to 28 off 12 and eventually to 17 off 6 with Unadkat tasked to bowl those out and earn MI's first points. Even at that stage it looked skewed in their favour, until Dhoni coolly pulled off a vintage finish.

About the first innings...

MI's woeful start

Mukesh Choudhary had Rohit Sharma flicking to mid-on and Ishan Kishan playing down the wrong line to knock out his off stump in the first over. Two overs later, Mukesh struck for the third time in the PowerPlay as Dewald Brevis nicked to MS Dhoni for just 4 runs. MI lost three but it could've been even worse if CSK had held on to chances as Dhoni missed a stumping and Ravindra Jadeja dropped a catch, offering Suryakumar Yadav a couple of reprieves.

Did the reprieve make a difference?

To a very little extent. Amidst all the wreckage, Suryakumar got a few cover drives going to calm the jangling nerves for MI but an expansive attempt at a slog sweep from outside the off stump against Mitchell Santner ended his endeavour to revive his side. He fell for 32 off 21 in the eighth over, leaving MI's batting fate in the hands of young Tilak Varma and debutant Hrithik Shoukeen.

How did they do?

The pair dragged the team from 47 for 4 in the eighth over to 85 the 13th over, with both getting into the 20s and getting a few boundaries going. But once again CSK ended the attempt to push the stand to develop into a full-blown revival as Dwayne Bravo had Shoukeen top-edging an attempted big hit. Robin Uthappa completed a simple catch at mid-off, much to the delight of his skipper Ravindra Jadeja who dropped a similar straightforward chance just a couple of overs before.

How did MI get to 155/7 then?

With some death-overs tonking

CSK trapped Kieron Pollard with one of their oldest tricks in the book - a fielder at long stop for the big West Indian to hit straight to - that had worked way back in the IPL 2010 final. It worked tonight too and MI's hopes of a flying finish dimmed. Dwayne Bravo's slower one flummoxed Daniel Sams in the following over, to further dent MI, but out stepped Unadkat for a cameo of 19 from 9 balls. Varma got to his second IPL half-century during his quick-fire stand with Unadkat, while MI scored 29 off the last two overs from Dwaine Pretorius and Bravo. That late effort proved futile as Dhoni decided to turn back the clocks.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 155/7 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 51*, Suryakumar Yadav 32; Mukesh Choudhary 3-19, Dwayne Bravo 2-36) lost to Chennai Super Kings 156/7 in 20 overs (Ambati Rayudu 40, Robin Uthappa 30, MS Dhoni 28*; Daniel Sams 4-30) by 3 wickets

What next?

CSK next go up against the inconsistent PBKS on Monday (April 25) at the Wankhede stadium. MI's hunt for their first points takes them to the Wankhede too, facing LSG on Sunday (April 24).