IPL El Clasico turns damp squib as CSK crush Mumbai Indians to move to second spot in table

SYNOPSIS: It was a Clasico that didn’t live-up to the billing as Chennai Super Kings for the second time this season, made short work of Mumbai Indians, defeating their arch-rivals in their den for the first time in 13 years.

Captain @msdhoni gently pushes one for a single to hit the winning runs 😃@ChennaiIPL reger a comfortable victory over #MI at home 👏🏻👏🏻
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/hpXamvn55U #TATAIPL | #CSKvMI pic.twitter.com/SCDN047IVk
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 6, 2023
Chennai’s bowling has been their weak link this season. With several of their first-choice pacers unavailable due to injuries, they have been banking on inexperienced, young fast bowlers to step up. While the likes of Tushar Deshpande – Purple Cap holder with 19 wickets – and Matheesha Pathirana have indeed delivered, the consency has been lacking where even one bad over on the day has proved costly for them in the end.
And on Saturday, in what is the Clasico of the IPL, their inexperienced pacers delivered a near perfect job to set up Chennai Super Kings’s first win over their arch-rivals Mumbai Indians at MA Chidambaram Stadium since 2010.
Setting the pace
At the board room conversations, the Super Kings support staff have been factoring the inexperience of their pacers, especially when it comes to executing their plans at the death. After all the likes of Desphande, Pathirana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar aren’t totally new to the set-up nor been thrown in the deep end. All three have spent at least a season each in the wings, with the support staff grooming them for the long haul behind the scenes as net bowlers. Despite openings in the playing XI last season, the franchise held them back and with the likes of Mukesh Chowdhury, Deepak Chahar injured this year, they handed the opportunity.
In terms of backing, few teams do it as good as the Super Kings and on a gloomy afternoon in front of a sea of yellow at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the pacers rocked Mumbai Indians early as they accounted for three wickets in space of seven deliveries for just one run. The struggling Rohit Sharma held himself back and sent Cameron Green to open alongside Ishan Kishan. It seemed a sensible move, but one that came with a bit of risk at a venue like Chepauk, where batsmen tend to struggle in terms of adjusting to the conditions. Unlike the Wankhede, the bounce here isn’t too steep and as Deshpande pitched a tad short, Green went for a pull, only for the delivery to climb just enough to hit the top of off-stump.
In the next over, Kishan tried to hit Chahar over mid-wicket, only for the leading edge to settle in the hands of the mid-on fielder. Three deliveries later, MS Dhoni forced Rohit to commit a make. With the India captain having tendency to step out, Dhoni chose to stand-up to the stumps, a move that clearly rattled Rohit, who attempted a scoop, only to be early into the shot and scooping to the short-third-man as Mumbai slipped to 14/3 inside three overs.

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A remarkable delivery from Pathirana to dismiss the well-set Wadhera 👏🏻👏🏻#TATAIPL | #CSKvMI pic.twitter.com/G9N2m6BeYQ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 6, 2023
Though Mumbai had chased 200-plus in successive matches, on a slow track where the odd ball stopped and gripped, they struggled to wrestle the momentum. Even Suryakumar Yadav, who has returned to form after a string of low scores at the start of the tournament, struggled to pace his innings as Mumbai sleepwalked to 64/3 in 10 overs. With Pathirana yet to come, the task was only getting more and more challenging for Mumbai and as Yadav departed in the 11th over, their chance of putting a competitive total on board disappeared.
While Tran Stubbs and Tim David failing to contribute much, it was Nehal Wadhera who kept Mumbai in the mix, crafting a 51-ball 64. Though the innings lacked urgency, it made up for the struggles of others around him. With the new ball bowlers delivering at the top, the Super Kings death-over special Pathirana too stepped up. Nailing yorkers at will and using his slower ones – that are hard to pick off the hand – the 20-year-old accounted for the wickets of Wadhera, Arshad Khan and Stubbs as he ended his four overs without conceding a boundary or a six.
Comfortable chase
A target of 140 against a Mumbai attack that has been toothless so far in the tournament was never going to cause any trouble for Chennai’s in-form batting line-up. And Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad seized the early initiative, with the latter starting off with two boundaries in the first over bowled Green. With Conway steady as ever at the other end, and dark clouds hovering above, Chennai showed the right intent to stand a good chance should it come down to DLS. In the third over bowled Arshad, Gaikwad pulled a couple of short-deliveries for a six and two well-timed boundaries; Conway bagged two fours in the next over from Jofra Archer.

.6⃣4⃣.4⃣6⃣@Ruutu1331 on 🔥🔥@ChennaiIPL openers are once again off to a superb start 💥
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/hpXamvn55U #TATAIPL | #CSKvMI pic.twitter.com/J4a6F7ybeK
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 6, 2023
While Piyush Chawla struck first ball to dismiss Gaikwad, Chennai had very few hiccups in their pursuit.

LBW!
Second wicket for Piyush Chawla & @mipaltan 🙌
Ajinkya Rahane departs for 21.
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/hpXamvn55U #TATAIPL | #CSKvMI pic.twitter.com/rxq5Qu3z98
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 6, 2023
With powerplay overs giving enough runs, and the required run-rate well under control, Conway and Ajinkya Rahane batted sensibly, rotating strike at will and picking the odd boundary here and there as Rohit struggled for answers. As Chennai jogged to the finish line, Rahane, Ambati Rayudu and Conway perished just in time to give the Chepauk crowd another glimpse of Dhoni hitting the winning runs as the Super Kings moved to the second spot in the table.