Super kings of Chennai 159 for 3 (Rahane 61, Gaikwad 40*, Kartikeya 1-24) Mumbai Indians 157 for 8 (Kishan 32, Jadeja 3-20, Santner 2-28, Deshpande 2-31) with seven wickets
Rohit, Kishan start strong for Mumbai
As Santner suggested during the mid-innings talk, the ball slid nicely onto the bat in the early exchanges before the pitch slowed. Rohit charged from the third ball from the crease and pumped Chahar over extra cover before pulling away and cutting Deshpande over point four in the next over.
Sisanda Magala had a difficult initiation into the IPL as Ishan Kishan took him for three fours in his first over, the third of the innings, which took 14 runs in total. Magala, a death bowling specialist from South Africa, operated early in the power play as Chahar had left the field with his hamstring clenched after bowling the first over.
But Deshpande came forward and drew movement from the surface to beat Rohit’s perimeter and hit the top of center and away with a beauty. Kishan then beat Magala for two more fours, with Mumbai ending the power play 61 for 1.
Left arm spin is good for CSK
In Super Kings previous game at Chepauk against Lucknow Super Giants, Jadeja bowled just one over as MS Dhoni held him away from first Kyle Mayers and then Nicholas Pooran. On Saturday, Dhoni brought Jadeja on the attack right after the power play and the all-rounder responded by letting Kishan hollow out 32 of 21 balls.
Jadeja continued to bowl on Wankhede’s pitch and also got away with the wickets of Tilak Varma (22) and Cameron Green (12).
Santner might not have played this game had Stokes or Moeen been available for selection, but he again proved his worth. In stark contrast to Jadeja, Santner tossed the ball up at a much slower pace and dismissed both Suryakumar Yadav (1) and southpaw Arshad Khan, who had been promoted to No. 6 to counter him and Jadeja.
Pushed to No. 7, Tim David went 6, 4, 6 against Deshpande before the sailor hit back dragging an offcutter to deep midwicket. After sticking in the power play, Magala unleashed his yorkers and slower variations at death to finish 4-0-37-1.
Rahane fits the role of Uthappa
After Conway fell in familiar fashion and cut through in the first over, Rahane went on an unfamiliar groundbreaking attack in the power play. He crashed Arshad for 6, 4, 4, 4, 4 in the fourth over, and by the end of the power play he had zoomed in on his half-century, setting Super Kings for a win that increased the net run-rate .
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 number 4. Kartikeya eventually bowled Dube for 28 off 26 balls but the game was all but over by then . Rayudu, who replaced Chahar as Super Kings’ Impact Player, and Gaikwad completed the formalities with seven wickets and almost two overs left.
Super Kings secured their second consecutive win and will be further bolstered by the arrival of Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana ahead of their home game against Rajasthan Royals on April 12. for their first points this season.
Deivarayan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo