MI vs CSK Highlights: Matheesha Pathirana Shine As CSK Beat MI BY Six Wickets

MI vs CSK Highlights: Saturday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Super Kings' pace attack of Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, and Deepak Chahar helped their team return to winning ways against Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League.

It was the first victory for the MS Dhoni-led squad at home following five losses to MI. They climbed to second place in the standings after 11 games with 13 points. MI has 10 points from 10 games played.

Tushar Deshpande and Deepak Chahar were outstanding with the new ball, sharing the day's bowling honors with 4-0-26-2 and 3-0-18-2, respectively. Pathirana displayed his death bowling prowess by returning figures of 4-0-15-3. Deshpande becoming the tournament's highest wicket-taker (19) was the icing on the cake.

The triumvirate limited MI to 139/8, which CSK easily chased down with 14 balls remaining. The six-wicket victory would have been a relief for CSK supporters following two losses and a no result at Lucknow Super Giants due to rain.

After opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad provided a quick start, Devon Conway anchored CSK's pursuit with a 42-ball 44.

There were only two bright points for a misfiring MI: Nehal Wadhera's batting and Piyush Chawla's bowling. After MI lost three wickets in the first three overs, the 22-year-old Wadhera provided the visitors with a fighting chance by scoring 64 off 51 balls, his maiden IPL half-century. Chawla, a veteran leg-spinner, delivered another deft spell to extend the game over four consecutive overs while claiming two crucial wickets.

MI had long dominated CSK at Chepauk, but on Saturday afternoon, everything went wrong for them there.It was evident from the outset of the competition that CSK were well-prepared. After deciding to bowl, they seized the initiative with three fast wickets in the powerplay.

MI hoped to surprise CSK by opening with Cameron Green and Ishan Kishan, while Rohit Sharma dropped to No. 3. The plan backfired. In the second over, the towering Australian was dismissed by Deshpande while attempting a deliberate slog.

Chahar bowled an excellent second over from the other side to secure two wickets for three runs and reduce MI to 16/3 after three overs.

When Dhoni's opponent Rohit stepped out to bat, he demonstrated that he still possesses exceptional leadership abilities. Knowing that the MI captain likes to run down the pitch to negate swing, particularly at Chahar's pace, he decided to face the wicket. The strategy worked like a charm. Rohit attempted a sweep shot when Dhoni packed the cordon with a slip, short-third man, and point, but he lobbed a catch to the point fielder.

In the companionship of Nehal Wadhera, the dangerous Suryakumar Yadav attempted to recoup. In the eleventh over, however, veteran left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja supplied the breakthrough by clean bowling Yadav.

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When MI attempted to accelerate in the death overs by targeting spinners, the CSK captain reintroduced pacers Pathirana and Deshpande to contain the power-hitters. Pathirana, the Lasith Malinga clone, was exceptional, generating high speed with some balls reaching 150kph. He bowled the 18th over allowing only two runs while claiming one wicket for a final line of 3-0-10-1. In his final over, he completed the inning with a double strike and allowed only five runs.

"I suppose everything went awry. Our batters failed to score enough runs. As a batting collective, we had an off day," Rohit said.