Chennai, who returned to the IPL after serving a two-year-ban, made a stunning turnaround to defeat defending champions Mumbai.
Hailing Dwayne Bravo for his whirlwind knock of 68 that helped turn around a losing plot in his team’s comeback IPL match on Saturday, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni expressed happiness over the West Indian taking up responsibility and seeing the side through.
Chennai, who returned to the IPL after serving a two-year-ban, made a stunning turnaround to defeat defending champions Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium by one wicket with one ball to spare after staring defeat in the face at 118 for 8, chiefly due to the all rounder’s blazing 30-ball innings.
“CSK v Mumbai is one game everyone wants to watch and we are coming back after two years. Overall, the spectators have been very good. The way Bravo batted it was really good to see him take the responsibility,” Dhoni said during the post-match presentation.
Chennai made a remarkable rally from the precarious position and finally managed to get over the line as Bravo smashed seven sixes and three fours in his blazing knock as he punished errant Mumbai bowlers Mitchell McClehagnen and Jasprit Bumrah to put his side on the doorsteps of a stupendous win.The former India World Cup-winning skipper, however, felt overall his side could have batted better in pursuit of the challenging total of 165 for 4 put up by MI, while expressing concern over some of his injury-prone teammates.
“We could have batted better. I would take plenty of positives out of the game. The mix of players we have got will be more horses for courses. We will have to keep our eye on injury-prone players. I feel keeping things simple is important,” the 36-year-old wicket-keeper-batsman said.
Debutant Markande impresses Jayawardene
Mumbai Indians’ talent scouts seem to have found a gem in rookie leg spinner Mayank Markande, who impressed one and all in the IPL opener against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings.
Markande scalped 3 for 23 and his prize wicket of rival skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was caught plumb in front going back to a googly, was one of the highlights of the game before Dwayne Bravo pulled the rug from under MI’s feet with his 30-ball 68 blitz.
MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene was among many who were bowled over by the talent exhibited by the debutant 20-year-old from Bathinda in Punjab who had taken 15 wickets in 10 limited over games in the Vijay Hazare (50-over) and Syed Mushtaq Ali (20-over) tournaments of BCCI coming into the IPL.
“I thought he bowled brilliantly, we backed him when we saw him first at our camp. We knew that he was special. He came for two trial games for us, both him and (Rahul) Chahar,” Jayawardene said.
“We backed our youngsters. We knew that this is the year we had to do that. The stadium was packed against CSK and he bowled well, I am pleased for him,” he said.
His accuracy was the one thing that was singled out by former Sri Lanka skipper Jayawardene.
“I think it is the accuracy. He is quite accurate and probably a bit different to a normal leg-spinner as well. The way he delivers the ball, the control he has with his variations,” he said.
“And he is very confident for a guy who has not played much T20 cricket. His attitude is great and we want to back those guys, give them an opportunity and see what happens,” gushed Jayawardene about MI’s new find.
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