Mumbai Indians have beaten Chennai Super Kings for the third time in three meetings this season. They’ve beaten Super Kings on their home ground.
Let’s put that record in context. Between them, all the other IPL teams, put together, have come here 49 times and picked up ten wins.
The latest chapter in Mumbai’s psychological stranglehold over Super Kings came via a comfortable six-wicket win on a pitch affording sharp turn throughout. Both teams went in with three spinners – a legspinner, and offspinner and a left-arm orthodox spinner each – and Mumbai’s trio outperformed Super Kings’ on the day. While the pitch wasn’t straightforward to bat on, 131 seemed a below-par total considering Super Kings only lost four wickets, and an unbeaten 71 from Suryakumar Yadav steered Mumbai home with nine balls remaining.
Mumbai used all three of their spinners in the Powerplay, bowling them for four out of six overs, and they took out Super Kings’ top three. Faf du Plessis picked out backward point with a cut, while Suresh Raina and Shane Watson fell trying to hit against the turn when the length wasn’t in their favour; on this pitch, it was only really a percentage shot if the batsman got to the pitch of the ball or if it was a rank long-hop.
