MI vs CSK, 49th Match at Chennai, IPL, May 06 2023 - Match Result

Thanks for tuning in. You can follow RCB vs DC here. Goodbye from here from me, Ekanth, Himanshu, who's also authoring the match report, and our scorers, Venkat Raghav and K Vairavan.

Matheesha Pathirana, POTM: It started from last season, I came as a replacement and played two games. Now I'm getting more games and am happy. The team gave me a lot of confidence. This is my best bowling figures in T20 I think, happy about that and contributing to the win. I'm a die-hard fan of Cristiano Ronaldo and have modeled my celebration after him.

[cont...] (On Pathirana) People who don't have very clean (conventional) action, batsmen have a difficult time picking it and when trying to go after the bowler. But his consistency, varitation, pace makes him special. What's important is to keep an eye on how much cricket he is playing. I feel he should not play red-ball cricket, not even get close to it, even play only ICC tournaments with ODIs and keep the rest as less as possible, because he's not someone who'll change a lot. This is what he'll do. So you can always use him at crucial times. But make sure he's fit and available for all the ICC tournaments and he'll be a great asset for Sri Lanka. Not to forget, he's a really young boy. Last time he came, he was very lean but has put on muscle and is stronger. I feel he'll serve for a long time in Sri Lankan cricket but he'll have to keep an eye on how much he bowls.

MS Dhoni, CSK captain: Crucial game for a simple reason: the middle of the table has a logjam. This win gives a cushion, but we can't get comfortable with it because one or two teams are close and are facing each other. We haven't had a couple of games go in our way, so, good to be on the winning side. Frankly I was slightly doubtful, I wanted to bat first, but the think tank together said there is chances of rain. I had a simple calculation that the game starts at 3:30pm and if we are batting first and get about 2 hours to play, major part of the game would be done with. But I was slightly outnumbered and I said 'let's go with the majority. Ultimately, our strength has been to talk about things and decide what's best for the team and go with the majority when there's confusion. As I said, it was slightly confusing as I felt the wicket could slow down. It has always been very good initially and I strongly felt that the rain would come after the majority of the game is done and would not have a big impact. [cont...]

Stat from Sampath: Rohit's first defeat vs CSK at Chepauk in IPL. Had won all his previous seven (2 for DC and 5 for MI)

Rohit Sharma, MI Captain: (What went wrong?) Everywhere I guess. Our batters didn't put up enough runs. We had an off-day as a batting unit. (Reason behind him moving to No. 3) Just felt that was what was comfortable after losing Tilak. Thought we needed Indian bats in the middle overs but lost three in the powerplay. Piyush is bowling well, others need to rally around him. That's what we expect, it's a team game. But we can take a lot of learnings and take it forward. Obviously, this year it's felt like there has been no home advantage. We need to play good cricket, next two home games are important. We need to do well to come back.

Kannadachi : "Once the MI top order failed , CSK were sure to break the generation jinx of.losing against MI at chepauk"

7:02pm: Handshakes all round, a second one-sided match in a row in a season that was giving thrillers on demand. CSK set up the win with the ball: Chahar, Deshpande, Pathirana among the wickets to restrict MI and the batters won it easily. Conway and Gaikwad were clinical in the powerplay and none of the MI bowlers, except Piyush, troubled the batters from the get-go. CSK slowed down but were always steady, they ended the game with over two overs to go and go up to No. 2 in the points table.

Dhoni on strike with one needed with 15, one more ball to go or will there be more in anticipation?

Anish: "Dube, you are the villain. "

Sai: "So glad rain didn't play spoilsport today. Not only would it have reduced one point for csk but it would have put them behind because in case of tied points, they first check the number of wins and only then NRR"

Suyog: "MI already missing Tendulkar"

Abhi: "Think MI missed Tilak today, could have added a few extra runs with the bat and a handy bowler as well" He's out with a niggle

kelvin: "current vibe.. "this entertainment""

Crowd roars as Conway walks back. Dhoni's in. The flashlights on the phone are on, the noise is going up gradually as he takes guard. Over the wicket now

Barath: "@Nabeel What other comments can you expect on a one-sided match? "

Selva: "CSK should not waste balls. Should try to finish it in this over and gain more in NRR "

Around

DrCric: "Can't believe they are dealing in singles with 15-odd runs to get in 5 overs and 7 wickets in hand." Funnily Conway's trying funky shots and not getting them away. Dube's trying to go big but the lack of pace isn't helping consistent hitting.

Jai: "Its time Mumbai revisits their bowling lineup, doesnt look threatening even on paper. "

Timeout

Nabeel : "It's funny how people sitting at their home , following cricket on ESPN and just by knowing a few stats are criticizing the selection of a person who have so many trophies under his name. My advice to them is believe in everything that Dhoni does."

Around

Vinod rajpal: "Hey Eknath, Conway for Orange Cap today ?" He'll get close but might not go over

Suresh Swain: "Subhranshu Senapati should replace Ambati Rayudu in coming matches."

Srikanth : "What extraordinary did Watson do in 2018??" Win the final

Suresh Swain: "Subhranshu Senapati should replace Ambati Rayudu in coming matches."