MS Dhoni’s Hat-Trick of Sixes Overshadowed by Rohit Sharma’s century, CSK beat the Mumbai Indians by 20 runs
Summary: CSK beat MI at Wankhede with Matheesha Pathirana's excellent bowling performance, despite Rohit Sharma’s heroic century.
The Chennai Super Kings defeated the Mumbai Indians at their home ground by a margin of 20 runs. Opening batsman Rohit Sharma attempted to chase down 207, making 105 off 63 balls, but his efforts turned futile as the home team were 20 runs short of victory.
Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana delivered his best IPL figures of 4 for 28 as MI lost momentum in the chase. Rohit batted from start to finish, achieving an unbeaten 105 off 63 deliveries, his second IPL century, but he was unable to find a partner who could stick with him long enough to form a strong combination.
Earlier, CSK's top-order batsman Shivam Dube and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad hit power-packed half-centuries as the five-time champions scored 206/4. Dube scored an undefeated 66 off 38 deliveries, while Gaikwad hammered 69 off 40 deliveries.
MS Dhoni stunned the audience at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Sunday when he smashed Hardik Pandya for three consecutive sixes in the death over. Dhoni came out to bat with four balls remaining in the CSK innings and scored 20 runs with a strike rate of 500.
Hardik's first delivery to Dhoni was slower, but the batter swiftly read the length and smashed it for a big six over long-off. The bowler followed up with a length ball, but the result was the same: it flew over wide long-on for Dhoni's second six in just two deliveries.
The next delivery was the worst of the bunch, with Hardik unleashing a low full toss on the pads that Dhoni easily flicked over deep square leg for his third six of the match.