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It was a defensive masterclass from Chennai Super Kings as inspired bowling from Matheesha Pathirana saw the visitors pull off an unthinkable against Mumbai Indians – defending a total in a night game at the Wankhede. The total of 206 was never enough at the venue and was only managed after MS Dhoni’s last-over blitz of 20 off just four following another Shivam Dube masterclass. And a loss seemed on the cards after the kind of start that Mumbai got, scoring 70 off the first seven overs, with Rohit Sharma leading the charge. Pathirana did inflict quick damage with two wickets in his opening over, yet the hosts remained the favourites to outlast Chennai in the Clasico encounter. But CSK fast bowlers had other plans.
Rohit, who was on 75 off 45, found an able support from Tilak Varma after Pathirana dismissed Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav in the same over. The pair stitched 60 runs to leave Mumbai favourites to chase down the remaining 83 runs in the last seven overs. But CSK pacers, led by Pathirana, executed their plans perfectly, using the bigger part of the boundary as Mumbai eventually fell short by 20 runs in the chase.
Rohit did end up scoring a ton, off 61 balls, his second in IPL and eighth in his illustrious T20 career, en route to his unbeaten 105. But between overs 13 and 18, he only managed a run-a-ball 14.
Despite the courageous effort from Rohit at the Wankhede, fans on social media seemed rather unimpressed with his knock. The former MI captain was called “selfish” on X, formerly known as Twitter, as Virat Kohli hypocrisy was called out with fans comparing Rohit’s ton to the former RCB captain’s much-criticised 67-ball century against Rajasthan Royals. Incidentally, both were scored in a losing cause. Here are some of the reactions…
Was Rohit Sharma ‘selfish’?
Rohit scored at a strike rate of 168 in the powerplays, pulling off 42 off 25 and then added 24 runs more off the next 14 balls he faced, at a strike rate of 171.4. The Mumbai Indians opener did up the ante, but it was the middle phase where the home team struggled collectively. After the 12th over, Rohit faced nine deliveries across the next five overs, where he scored just 10 runs. During that phase, he was accompanied by four other MI batters, who managed 26 runs off 20 balls.
After the 17th over, when the asking rate had jumped to almost 18, Rohit found another wind as he scored 22 off the next 10 balls he faced, but lacked support from the other end.
It was eventually a defensive gameplan from CSK that during the middle overs that denied MI the win.
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