25 April,2014 11:23 PM IST | | Agencies
A four-for by Mohit Sharma and unbeaten half-century by Brendon McCullum helps Chennai Super Kings thrash Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets in their IPL tie on Friday
Dubai: Brendon McCullum smashed a belligerent unbeaten 71 after Mohit Sharma's heroics with the ball to guide Chennai Super Kings to a comfortable seven-wicket win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League match here today.
The win was Chennai's third on the trot while Mumbai is yet to open their account in the tournament after having slumped to their third straight defeat.
Chasing 142 to win, Dwayne Smith (29) and McCullum got Chennai off to a flier with a 57-run opening stand off just 38 balls.
After two quiet overs, Smith took Pragyan Ojha to the cleaners and clobbered the left-arm spinner for two sixes straight over his head to get Chennai going.
Smith then slammed Zaheer Khan for another six before Brendon McCullum joined the party and struck consecutive fours to pick up 16 runs off the fourth over.
McCullum matched his partner stroke for stroke and welcomed Anderson with three cracking boundaries as Chennai raced off to 51 in just the sixth over.
Smith, however, departed in the next over in search of one too many. He was holed out by Anderson off Ojha just after smacking the bowler for a six in the previous ball.
Chennai's most-prolific scorer Suresh Raina too got out cheaply, stumped by C M Gautam of off-spinner Harbhajan's Singh's (2/27) bowling as Mumbai clawed back into the match with two quick wickets.
But McCullum and new man Faf du Plesis went about their business in style and stitched 50 runs for the third wicket to take Chennai closer.
While du Plesis played the anchor's role, McCullum continued in the aggressive fashion and dispatched the bad deliveries for fours and sixes.
Du Plesis made 20 off 25 balls before he was stumped by Gautam off Harbhajan but the wicket hardly had any impact on Chennai's chase as they romped home with an over to spare.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (14) was the other not out batsman at the crease for Chennai.
Earlier, Mohit Sharma produced a fine death bowling display and picked up four wickets to help Chennai restrict the defending champions to a modest 141-7 in an Indian Premier League match in Dubai on Friday.
Coming on to bowl the 19th over, Mohit picked up three wickets - Ambati Rayudu, dangerman Kieron Pollard (12) and Harbhajan Singh - to prevent a late burst from Mumbai batsmen. Apart from Mohit (4-14), Ben Hilfenhaus (2-39) picked up two wickets for the Chennai outfit.
Mumbai's innings mainly revolved around captain Rohit Sharma and Corey Anderson. While Rohit made 50 off 41 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes, big-hitting Anderson scored 39 off 31 balls. In fact, the 84-run third wicket partnership between the duo was the highlight of Mumbai's innings especially after they lost their openers for just 25 runs inside five overs.
But once the duo departed their innings fell apart as Mumbai could manage just 33 runs off the last five overs for the loss of five wickets. Electing to bat, Mumbai did not have the best of starts as they lost Mike Hussey (1) and Aditya
Tare (23) early. Hussey's poor form in the tournament continued as he was bowled by fellow Australian Hilfenhaus in the second over.
An over later, Tare perished in search of a big hit, caught by Suresh Raina off Sharma. He struck four boundaries during his 19-ball knock. Anderson, who is yet to fire in the tournament, justified the team's decision to send him ahead of Rohit as he made a fine 39 off 31 balls with the help of three fours and one six.
Asked to bowl, Mohit (4/14) produced a fine death bowling display to help Chennai restrict the title holders to a modest 141 for seven.
Coming on to bowl the 19th over, Mohit picked up three wickets - Ambati Raydu, dangerman Kieron Pollard (12) and Harbhajan Singh - to prevent a late burst from Mumbai batsmen.
