IPL 2015, Qualifier 2: A Match-up Between Royal Challengers Bangalore's Temperament Against Chennai Super Kings's Current Form

The 8th edition of the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) has been an amazing tournament so far, and the final two games - a virtual semi-final and final - involving three heavyweight teams, should live up to the billing, as well.

Can Dhoni find his mojo tonight, playing in Ranchi?

The JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi will host the second qualifier, a South Indian derby involving the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), to decide which team goes on to face the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, in the final of IPL 2015.

MS Dhoni's men have only won 40% of their last five games, and their performance in the first qualifier clearly demonstrated their immediate form prior to such a pivotal clash.

Virat Kohli's side, on the other hand, has lost just 1 of their last five games, and their performances have been very much up to the mark too.

Tonight's clash is all about which of these teams can bring their A-game to the table, and deliver their best cricket when it matters the most.

Chennai won both their games against Bangalore in the league phase of this edition of the IPL, but they were in pretty good form at the time and therefore, managed to overwhelm the Vijay Mallya-owned franchise.

Will the current form for either of these sides determine their passage into Sunday's finals? Or will Dhoni find his mojo tonight, playing in his hometown and defeat Team India's new Test captain Kohli once again? Answers to follow...

The player battles in this intriguing tussle between CSK and RCB could have a profound impact on the end result of the game.

Man-to-man there is not much to choose between these two star-studded lineups, with the Challengers, in particular, wanting to do well and overcome their ineptitude to win their first IPL title.

Talking of Chennai first, Brendon McCullum's significance to his side's form in the early phase of this IPL cannot be stressed enough: he was ultra-aggressive at the top of the order, and Dhoni's devils invariably got the upper hand very early on in their games, managing to do enough thereafter, to remain ahead of the opposition.

Dwayne Smith has struggled after a few good innings' early on, and Michael Hussey, with his conventional and calculated approach to cricket, will not bother most opponents.

du Plessis will hold the key to CSK's chances of winning this game

The Super Kings' middle order has flattered to deceive this season, and it simply got to come good tonight, in order for their side to have a chance of beating the red hot RCB.

The good news, however, for them is that the Challengers' bowling attack can be made to look ordinary, with Mitchell Starc being the only bowler who can pose danger to the batsmen regardless of the nature of the playing surface.

Chennai, for me, need to get their batting order sorted and what I mean by it is that Dhoni has been the villain for his side, failing to score quick runs and stick to a position in the batting lineup.

The Indian ODI skipper has walked into bat at various positions during the 15 games so far, upsetting the rhythm of the batsman in the middle and approach of the ones, Faf du Plessis, for instance, to follow him.

Even without McCullum, CSK have got the batsmen to cash in on a relatively inexperienced RCB attack, and are capable of posting a big total on the board if they do get to bat first.

Their bowling has been steady throughout the tournament and Dhoni, in the aftermath of defeat to MI in the first qualifier, admitted that he was happy with how his bowlers fared, even though Mumbai got up to 187 after looking like they would only get to 170, at best.

Ravindra Jadeja and Mohit Sharma, though, remain the weak links in their side's bowling attack, but it will be greatly surprising if Dhoni changes two of his trusted personnel, at this stage of the season.

Moving onto RCB, they look a better batting side compared to their opponents tonight. In AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Kohli, Bangalore have three batsmen in the top 10 leading run-scorers of the tournament, and will hold the key to tonight's encounter.

RCB must be in good spirits ahead of tonight's game

Gayle can be a bit of hit-and-miss, though he can do significant damage to the opponent' chances of winning if he bats for 10 overs; Kohli, while opening the batting along with the Jamaican, has sought to play the anchor role; and de Villiers, without having to say anything, looks totally irrepressible at the moment.

But, again, the Royal Challengers' batting lineup is akin to Chennai's, in that they too have a brittle middle order which can capitulate against the bowling trio of Ashish Nehra, Dwayne Bravo and Ravichandran Ashwin.

Mandeep Singh played a magnificent innings against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) a couple of nights back, and will once again have to step up to the plate tonight. The all-rounder skills of David Wiese will hold the key to RCB posting a big total if they bat first, or have to chase to reach the finals.

RCB's bowling attack has done well, but will have to come good against Chennai

Royal Challengers' bowling attack has done well, picking 96 wickets in the 15 games they have played. Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel have delivered wickets and consistency, picking 21 and 16 wickets, respectively, so far, but face their biggest test tonight against CSK.

Sreenath Arvind, in the 4 games, has done well, but needs to stand up tonight; Chennai might try to score heavily against him.

Summary

As you can see, there is absolutely 'nothing' to choose between CSK and RCB, who promise yet another intriguing T20 cricket match in this year's Pepsi IPL.

And, as the headline suggests, it will be a tussle between the Royal Challengers' temperament against the Super Kings' current form.

IPL 2015, Qualifier 1: Five Things We Learned From Mumbai Indians' Victory Over Chennai Super Kings

MI got the better of CSK once again, beating them for the 11th time overall

Mumbai Indians (MI) once again came out in flying colors against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who were comfortably beaten by 25 runs in Qualifier 1 of the 8th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Mumbai were actually the visitors for yesterday's game that took place at the Wankhede Stadium, where, over the years, they have been hard to beat, winning 65% of their games (40) played at this venue.

They have turned things around remarkably well during the last fortnight, and were probably the confident of the two sides ahead of the clash against the Super Kings.

Rohit Sharma won the toss, and had no hesitation in batting first, which has been their forte this season, winning 66% of their games (9) in which they have batted first.

Chennai's new ball bowlers - Ravichandran Ashwin and Ashish Nehra - started off well, giving nothing away to the Mumbai openers, who had to work really hard to garner even singles.

Things, however, changed quickly in the 5th over, which saw Ashwin come on for his 3rd and last over on the night, conceding 13 runs and getting Mumbai's innings started.

Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel started scoring boundaries from both ends, and shifted the pressure back onto MS Dhoni and his bowlers. Simmons, in particular, scored boundaries at will and batted with great flair against spinners, as well as the fast bowlers.

This duo once again laid a solid foundation for their side, and put on 90 for the first wicket before Parthiv fell to Dwayne Bravo, attempting to cross-bat a slower delivery over mid-wicket.

Mumbai, though, kept hitting the boundaries and maintained pressure on the Super Kings, who were not getting the wickets in a canter until very late in the first innings.

The visitors reached 135/2 by the end of 15th over, and looked likely to post a total close to 190. However, there was a shift in momentum after the strategic time-out, with the hosts taking 2/6 from overs 16 and 17, putting Mumbai in a real spot of bother.

The Indians, with Kieron Pollard striking it crisply, were still in with a chance of reaching somewhere over 170. They ended up with 187 on the board, a total that gave them real advantage.

They began their bowling innings in grandiose fashion, with Lasith Malinga dismissing Dwayne Smith, a former Mumbai Indian, in the very first over of Chennai's innings. It was a contentious decision made by Richard Illingworth, but it didn't matter for Mumbai.

Faf du Plessis walked in at No.3 ahead of Suresh Raina, and attacked the Mumbai bowlers from the beginning. The South African played a loose shot in the 4th over bowled by Vinay Kumar, who was unlucky to not have his scalp after being dropped at third-man by Malinga.

At the other end, Michael Hussey hit a couple of boundaries, but wasn't posing many problems to Rohit and co., who preferred bowling to the Western Australian.

Chennai, though, had to take the initiative of going after the MI bowlers, and when they did, it resulted in false strokes and fall of wickets. du Plessis held fort at one end, and got into a bit of partnership with Raina, who showed intent from the word go and struck a couple of beautiful sixes in his innings of 25 (20).

He, however, got out at the wrong time from CSK's perspective, with Harbhajan Singh also dismissing Dhoni in the very next delivery he bowled. The hosts quickly stumbled to 86/4 by the 11th over and Mumbai had the equation well under their control.

Chennai never managed to build partnerships after the fall of their skipper, with the likes of Bravo and Ashwin playing cameo innings' that weren't good enough for their side.

Malinga picked up a couple of wickets to bowl out Chennai in the 19th over, and help his side seal their spot in the Finals of IPL 2015, which will take place at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 4 days time.

In hindsight, what did we learn from a clinical MI performance? Read on...

This game had a good ebb and flow to it

Right from the word go, this game felt like a big one, played by two very capable T20 sides.

Mumbai had a distinct advantage over Dhoni's devils, since they were playing in front of their home crowd and, most importantly, have been in good form during the latter stages of the ongoing season.

Chennai, on the other hand, have always thrived on occasions such as last night and were fully deserving of their place in the first qualifier.

Dhoni was very tactical in the way he utilized his new ball bowlers, as he not only tried to dry up the runs, but pick at least two Mumbai wickets in the powerplay itself.

There were a couple of edges - inside of Simmons' willow and outside of Parthiv' - that sped away to the boundary and frustrated the Chennai bowlers, who kept a lid on Mumbai until the 5th over of their innings.

From that point on until the end of the 15th over, however, Mumbai scored a whopping 113 runs for the loss of both their openers, to put themselves in a position of real strength.

Yesterday's game ebbed and flowed nicely, causing great intrigue for the neutrals

Chennai, though, came roaring back and bought a couple of wickets in the 16th and 17th over, to set MI back and enhance their chances of restricting the batting side to no more than 170.

They, however, were unsuccessful in their ambitions, letting Mumbai get up to 187 and face a massive proposition of chasing them down, even though there were no demons on the wicket and had the batting firepower to get the job done.

Malinga dismissed Smith early, and gave a head start to his side's bowling innings. That wicket didn't work in Mumbai's advantage, though, as du Plessis came out all guns blazing and started scoring boundaries from the outset.

Mumbai strung in some cheap overs in the first half of CSK's innings, but there were a few expensive ones too, with Raina and du Plessis threatening to take the game away from the visitors.

Victory for the visitors became certain once Harbhajan got two wickets - Raina and Dhoni - in the 11th over, and it became a no contest from then on.

But, for almost 3/4th of the game, there was so much of an ebb and flow to it, and from the neutrals' point of view, it was wonderful to see two sides compete so well in such a high profile IPL fixture.

Things went perfectly to plan for Mumbai

In the end, when Mumbai reflect on the game, it really couldn't have scripted itself better.

Batting first, as aforementioned, has been their forte this season, and they got to do just that after Rohit won the toss.

Simmons' 65 (51) set Mumbai on their way to posting a big total

Their openers got the team off to a solid start after surviving a few scary moments, and batted until the 11th over before Patel got out. It meant that the likes of Rohit, Pollard and Hardik Pandya, could come in and start playing their natural game right from the beginning.

In the last five overs of their innings, they scored only 52 runs despite the last three overs going for 46, and didn't really score as heavily as they have done on previous occasions this season. But still managed to get to a total - 187/6 - that they would have been happy with. 

When they came out to bowl, the onus was on them to pick early wickets and make the scoreboard pressure get onto the home side. 

They were lucky to dismiss Smith, but Mumbai never let CSK run away with the game, even when the likes of du Plessis and Raina played a few good shots and kept the required run-rate under control. Harbhajan's brilliant 11th over helped them get a firm grip on proceedings, and go onto win the game by a comfortable 25-run margin.

Therefore, Mumbai would be mighty pleased with their performance that was up to the mark on a big occasion like last night, and against a good Chennai side. 

Pollard's 41 (17) had a gargantuan impact on proceedings

The West Indian has been having a very good season, and he continued his good work in his side's demolition of Chennai.

He came into bat in the 14th over, which was the ideal scenario for him, as well as Mumbai, because of the fact that he would, in any way, have enough deliveries to catapult Mumbai to a total in excess of 180, at least.

He got in on the act straightaway, hitting a couple of sixes off Negi and pushing Mumbai's run-rate to 9 runs-per-over. The visitors then lost a couple of wickets - Rohit and Pandya - which made Pollard's presence in the middle even more significant.

Pollard played 'the' game-changing innings

He was batting on 17 from 9 balls when Bravo began the 18th over, in which Pollard hit a six and took a single from only the two deliveries he got to face. It turned out to be a 15-run over for the visitors, who suddenly went from 141/4 to 156/4 with two overs to go.

Mohit Sharma was in line to bowl the 19th over, which cost CSK 15 runs again: Pollard's presence in the middle put Mohit off his line, and the Haryana seamer bowled three wide deliveries and was taken for a six and four by the hard-hitting right-hander, who was playing an absolutely priceless innings for Mumbai.

In the final over the innings, bowled by compatriot Bravo, he once again forced the bowler into making unforced errors and also hit an utterly flat six, helping his side realize a mammoth 187/6 at the end of 20 overs.

Bravo, in particular, was difficult to get away because of his constant changing of pace, and no MI batsman, other than Pollard, was able to score a boundary from the all-rounder's bowling efforts yesterday.

Pollard's innings not only got the score to 187, but Chennai, going into the dressing room for the change over, would have been upset by the amount of runs (46) they conceded in the last three, after having Mumbai on the mat at 141/4 when the 18th over began.

That, for me, was the game changing aspect. Pollard was rewarded for that innings with the man-of-the-match award, which was well deserved.

Chennai's middle order needed to do more

The performance of Chennai's middle order has been nowhere close to good enough from the very beginning of the season.

Yesterday, chasing 188, it was all about them, unless Smith and Hussey got their team off to a prolific start and didn't lose a wicket until the halfway point of their innings.

That, however, didn't happen and Smith was wrongly adjudged leg-before by the umpire in the very first over of their innings.

In walked du Plessis, who steadied the ship and gave real impetus to CSK's innings. Hussey got out for 16 (11) in the 6th over, and someone like Raina had to stand up and play the long innings.

Harbhajan bowled the game-changing 11th over, dismissing Raina and Dhoni

He too started off well, and struck a couple of delightful sixes, but had to carry on and take the game forward for his side. Harbhajan bowled really well to dismiss him in the 11th over, which proved to be the match-deciding one that also saw Dhoni get out for a golden duck.

This has been a shocking IPL season with the bat for the Indian ODI skipper who, despite scoring 328 runs in 15 innings so far in the tournament, has had very little impact on his side while batting in that middle order.

Bravo replaced Dhoni, and took way too much time to settle down while the required run-rate was getting out of control.

du Plessis, in trying to get a move on at a crucial stage in the innings, got a leading edge while looking to loft Jagadeesha Suchith over long off, and ended up giving a catch to Vinay, the fielder at long-on.

Put together, the quartet of du Plessis, Raina, Dhoni and Bravo scored a mere 90 (70) and it proved to be a detriment to their side's chances of chasing down 188.

In hindsight, we probably got to commend Brendon McCullum for his heroics with the bat at the top of the order. He gave Chennai many a quick start and probably disguised the palpable weakness in the middle order; with him gone now, we are getting to see the original picture.

Rohit was astute in the way he juggled his bowling options

Rohit has every right to be proud of himself for his astuteness as a skipper

Rohit's captaincy stood out once again yesterday, when he superbly handled his bowling resources and brought the best out of them.

Malinga and McClenaghan started from either end, with the new ball, and the Sri Lankan quickie picked up the wicket of Smith in his very first over. McClenaghan had a poor day, and his first over on the night went for a whopping 17 runs; his outing didn't get any better thereafter, and finished with figures of 3-0-46-1.

Rohit didn't persist with the New Zealander, and brought on Vinay from his end for the 4th over of Chennai's innings.

The Karnataka Ranji skipper put in probably his best bowling performance of the season, and repaid the faith shown on him by the team management. He dismissed Hussey in the 6th over of the innings, and should have had du Plessis too a couple of overs earlier, if not for Malinga's drop at third-man.

Over the course of this season, we have seen Rohit utilize Suchith for a couple of overs in the mandatory powerplay. The scenario was different last night and Rohit, the skipper, was willing to adapt to the demands of it: Raina was batting at one end, and a left-hander usually favors facing the left-arm orthodox spinner, therefore, it was sensible from Rohit to hold him back.

That was one impressive aspect of his captaincy, as well as his choice of bowlers at various stages of CSK's innings.

Also, he let Harbhajan bowl from one end, and complete his 4 overs on the trot. It showed that Rohit meant business, and was going for the wickets instead of sitting back and letting the game run its course.

Mind you, such bowling changes and tactical decisions paid off superbly, and took Mumbai into the third IPL finals in their history.

Final Thought

It was a comprehensive performance from MI, who excelled in all three departments of the game.

A win against the Super Kings was also a good way to sign off from the Wankhede fortress, and get their minds firmly fixed on winning back the trophy that Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) took it from them last year.

Mumbai must definitely be oozing with confidence, and should be comfortable taking on any of the three sides - Chennai, Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) - in the grand IPL final this Sunday.

IPL 2015, Qualifier 1: How Equipped Are Mumbai Indians To Beating Chennai Super Kings?

Mumbai's bowlers are in good form ahead of the game against Chennai

Mumbai Indians (MI) played some outstanding cricket against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), who let the pressure of a knockout game overwhelm them and capitulated rather clumsily with the bat.

You can take no credit away from the visitors, though, whose bowling attack stepped up to the plate and delivered the knockout punch.

Lasith Malinga and Mitchell McClenaghan bowled their hearts out, dismissing the dangerous opening duo of Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner in the 1st and 2nd overs of the hosts' innings.

Sunrisers never really recovered after that new ball assault from Mumbai, and folded up for a mere 113. Defeat was never in doubt after such a poor batting performance, and the visitors, led by their opening partnership of Parthiv Patel (51) and Lendl Simmons (48), romped home to a 9-wicket victory with 37 balls to spare.

By way of their 8th win of the campaign, Rohit Sharma's men have reached the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season and also finished 2nd on the Indian Premier League (IPL) points table, on the basis of accruing more wins (8 compared to 7) than Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) who had a better net run-rate than Mumbai.

Such a victory has set it up perfectly for the men in blue and gold, as the first qualifier is to be played tomorrow at the Wankhede Stadium where, over the years, Mumbai have been hard to beat.

They, however, have a very different proposition in front of them compared to the one they faced last Sunday, as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have once again had a good season thus far, possess the necessary big game temperament and, finally, look in decent fettle ahead of tomorrow's fixture.

The question has to be: how equipped are the Indians to beating CSK, while playing on their own patch? Answer to follow...

At the beginning of the season, needless to say, Mumbai looked a pretty ordinary side and were rolled over easily by the likes of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Super Kings, in their first four games.

While many a player in their squad looked to be out-of-form to begin with, Ricky Ponting and company probably didn't get the combination of their playing XI right, too.

They went in with three overseas batsmen - Aaron Finch, Corey Anderson and Kieron Pollard - for the first three games of the season.

It meant that Malinga, the other overseas player who has been critical to MI's success over the years, had to shoulder extra responsibility in the bowling department, and Harbhajan Singh was the only other quality bowler who could be put in the same bracket as the unorthodox Sri Lankan quickie.

Someone like Jasprit Bumrah, who did so well last season, looked clueless and his flimsy bowling performances continued to cost Mumbai. Vinay Kumar, the new recruit from KKR, is not a dangerous bowler who will strike fear in the opposition batting lineups.

Malinga was out of bowling form too, going for plenty of runs while not picking many wickets.

Mumbai's bowling attack, therefore, struggled to take wickets (they managed to pick 5 or more wickets only once in their first four games) and stem their opponents from scoring over 160.

With their side's bowling attack looking out of sorts, the batsmen always had that extra responsibility to either put a big total on the board, which itself wasn't enough against Chennai when the first time these sides met this season, or chase down massive targets.

The home win against Sunrisers turned around Mumbai's fortunes

Things, though, turned around for the good once they played Sunrisers at Wankhede, where, despite setting the visitors an easy target of 158 to win the game, they produced their best bowling performance and went onto register their 2nd win of the campaign.

Since then Mumbai have been able to produce team performances that have seen them register many a memorable victory during the second half of their campaign, when they have won 6 of their 7 fixtures.

The respective batting forms of Hardik Pandya and Ambati Rayudu have been particularly pleasing to see, and this duo has added depth to the MI middle order.

Also, the inception of McClenaghan has added more firepower to his side's bowling attack that has done well as the season has progressed.

Going into tomorrow's game against the Super Kings, Mumbai, man-to-man, would think that there is not much gulf between themselves and their illustrious opponents.

Tomorrow's hosts are the most in-form side compared to their opponents, and all three departments - batting, bowling and fielding - of their game are functioning very well.

Chennai are probably the most well-balanced IPL team, even better than the Knight Riders', be it this season or in the previous seven seasons.

However, having said that, the South Indian franchise has had a few problems with their middle order this season.

Chennai's middle order has been far from prolific this season

The trio of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis, have scored over 300 runs each, but scored those runs at only 125 runs per 100 balls, which explains why CSK have posted a total in excess of 180 only on two of the ten occasions they have batted first.

Also, Brendon McCullum, with 436 runs to his name, gave them many a good start during the league phase, and Chennai weren't as much of a force in the games that the New Zealand skipper failed with the bat. Him joining up with the national squad that faces England in a 2-match Test series starting in a couple of days' time, is a major blow to CSK, and it will be interesting to see how they cope without their swashbuckling opener.

Coming to their bowling attack, Ashish Nehra and Dwayne Bravo have taken 18 and 20 wickets, respectively, but have not really been complemented by the likes of Mohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja - two bowlers who could be looked at as genuine weak links.

Dhoni has also persevered with Ishwar Pandey, who has pegged away indefatigably on an unresponsive wicket in Chennai.

Ravichandran Ashwin has bowled to profile, picking 9 wickets from 11 matches and conceding only 5.73 runs-per-over, which is the most impressive aspect of all.

Pawan Negi, since coming into the side, has bowled well, although it is worth mentioning that the left-arm orthodox spinner was taken for 25 runs in an over by Pandya and Rayudu, who helped their side win that game.

Chennai's bowlers have got used to bowling on the slow wicket at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, where they have won 6 of their 7 games and Mumbai were the only side to beat them at the so called Lion's Den.

While playing away from home, however, their bowling attack has been taken to the cleaners in all but a couple of games against the RCB and KXIP.

Now, Dhoni is at his best when he has got the luxury of using 2-3 spinners during an innings but, at the Wankhede, I am afraid that the conditions aren't going to be exactly in his favor.

CSK, it is safe to say, are not a superior side to Mumbai, and will be tested in the cauldron that is the Wankhede Stadium.

Final Thought

Mumbai have probably surprised themselves by qualifying for the playoffs after losing their first four games.

Mumbai also have the confidence of having beaten Chennai not so long ago

As aforementioned, once they saw off the Sunrisers at home, they managed to strike consistency in results and played well to win against the likes of the Royals, Knight Riders and Super Kings, teams that saw a dip in form after suffering defeat at the hands of Mumbai.

Rohit & co. are high on confidence and there is simply no reason to suggest that they are 'incapable' of overcoming a Super Kings side which, over the years, has not been great when playing against Mumbai.

Expect this to be a high-scoring contest.

IPL 2015, Match 43: Five Things We Learned From Mumbai Indians' Victory Over Chennai Super Kings

Hardik Pandya played an absolute blinder to get his side over the finishing line

Mumbai Indians (MI) registered their fifth consecutive victory in the 8th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), as they successfully overcame a star-studded Chennai Super Kings (CSK) side by six wickets.

It was Mumbai's first victory over their illustrious opponents for five games, and they had to give blood and sweat to not slump to their 5th consecutive defeat against the men in yellow.

MS Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first, which is the norm in any fixture played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, and the home side went into the game with three specialist spinners - Ravichandran Ashwin returned to action in place of Ishwar Pandey, while Pawan Negi and Ravindra Jadeja retained their places - in the playing XI.

Mumbai, on the other hand, had to bring in Marchant de Lange for Lasith Malinga, who was not eligible to play in Chennai.

The hosts, unlike in the reverse fixture between these sides, couldn't really get going with the bat at any stage during their innings, and credit to the visitors for choking up the runs and making life difficult for the CSK batsmen.

The top three batsmen fell cheaply, and the mantle was handed over to Dhoni and Faf du Plessis to get their side to a respectable score. However, du Plessis, in trying to up the ante in the 16th over, fell to Mitchell McClenaghan which really put the squeeze on the Super Kings' innings. It was Negi's ultra-impressive 17-ball 39 that got Chennai over 150, a score that usually is hard to chase at the Chepauk.

Mumbai got off to a good start and had the game in the bag after 10 overs. But in trying to keep the scoreboard moving, the visitors lost three wickets for two runs in the space of two overs, and let the home side comeback into the game. They finally got there in the end, aided by Dhoni's 'tactical error', which you don't often get from the tried and tested Ranchi lad.

It was a morale-boosting victory for MI, albeit it need not have been under such dramatic circumstances. In hindsight, what did we learn from an inspiring Mumbai performance?

Mumbai blunted Chennai's threat upfront with the bat and ball

Brendon McCullum's threat was neutralized by MI's new ball bowlers

This Chennai side is known for doing most of the damage early on in the game, be it with the bat or ball. It was 'the' reason for the ignominious defeat Mumbai suffered at the Wankhede earlier in the season, when Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith made a mockery of the target - 184 - set by the home side that day. Ashish Nehra also got wickets with the new ball, which really set Mumbai back.

I am sure that it would have been discussed in the MI camp prior to the game, and they did well to smother CSK early on in both the innings'.

McClenaghan, de Lange and Jagadeesha Suchith bowled good lines and lengths, and didn't provide the hosts' opening duo with any freebies.

McCullum was the one who showed genuine intent in going for the boundaries while Smith couldn't find his touch. Mumbai should have had the New Zealand skipper in the 3rd over, which was delivered by Suchith, when Harbhajan Singh uncharacteristically put down a dolly. But they weren't punished by the hard-hitting right-hander, who fell in the fifth over to Vinay Kumar's bowling, giving a simple catch to Hardik Pandya, who was positioned on the deep mid-wicket boundary.

It was a much-needed wicket for Mumbai, who not only gained that early impetus in the game but neutralized CSK's biggest threat.

Also, when Mumbai came out to bat, it was great tactical awareness from Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons, who delivered a quick, and perfect, start to their side. They attacked Nehra in particular, and scored a whopping 28 runs in his first two overs, putting Dhoni and the home side under extreme pressure.

The purple cap holder didn't have an answer to both Parthiv and Simmons, who pounced on even the slightest error in line or length committed by the left-arm seamer, who finished with figures of 3-0-45-0.

In the overall context of the game, Mumbai blunting Chennai's threat upfront was pivotal to their victory last night.

Malinga wasn't missed as was first thought

Suchith was one of the MI bowlers who ensured that Malinga wasn't missed

It was advantage CSK for the simple reason that Mumbai had the leader of their bowling attack ineligible to play.

Not only did it mean that de Lange, who hadn't played a single game in the tournament until last night, replaced the talismanic Sri Lankan, but the visitors had to depend on other bowlers to pick wickets for them, which was never going to be easy against a batting lineup of Chennai's calibre.

However, it was so invigorating to see McClenaghan, de Lange and young Suchith take over the baton from Malinga and deliver in the manner they did.

de Lange, in particular, bowled well, taking into account that it was his first game of this campaign. He went for a mere five runs in his first two overs, which saw him bend his back and get the ball to carry nicely to Parthiv behind the stumps. He got a bit of tapping from Dhoni and Negi at the fag end of Chennai's innings, but you expect that in this format of the game.

Suchith continues to impress with each passing game, and it is particularly pleasing to see him thrive while bowling in the powerplay overs, which can be a nightmare for most spinners. Also, when he came on for his second spell, in the 9th over of Chennai's innings, it was Suresh Raina on strike and, against a left-arm spinner, you expect a left-hand batsman to harness the affable angle of the delivery. But Suchith struck to his task and dismissed the southpaw right after being hit for a six earlier in the over.

McClenaghan continued the good work he has been doing since his first game of this edition of the IPL, and bowled better than his figures of 4-0-34-1 suggest.

Harbhajan and Vinay were the not-so-impressive bowlers for the visitors, as they went for 69 runs in 7 overs combined. The off-spinner, who was expected to relish bowling on the Chennai wicket, didn't have a good outing following his magnificent spell against Delhi Daredevils (DD) three nights back.

Vinay... well, is the weak-link as far as Mumbai's bowling attack is concerned. He bowls too short for a bowler of his pace, and doesn't put enough effort into his deliveries. With Pandya showing good signs as a bowler, I would be tempted to play an extra batsman in place of the Karnataka Ranji skipper.

In the grand scheme of things, it was job well done with the ball for MI who, in the absence of Malinga, were expected to struggle.

The playing surface behaved better compared to the previous games in Chepauk

The pitch at Chepauk played better last night

The nature of the surface was something that Mumbai had to contend with, especially for a team that plays on a million-times quicker wicket at the Wankhede Stadium.

In Chennai, the wicket is dry, devoid of grass and moisture, and helps the ball stick to the wicket for a fraction of a second, which makes it tough for the batsman to time his shots.

However, last night, I felt that it was more batsmen-friendly compared to the previous games. Also, there was better carry to the wicket-keeper, and the spinners couldn't extract as much turn as they would have anticipated. Yes, it was on the slower side, but not as slow as in some of the previous games played at this venue.

A better wicket meant that Chennai probably needed a score in the region of 170-180. 158 was still a good score, but it wasn't good enough yesterday, especially, and Dhoni addressed that in his post-match interview.

There also appeared to be a bit of dew in the second innings, which made it slightly easier for Mumbai to chase down the target of 159.

The understated players in the Indians' setup stepped up once again

Pandya thrived on the big stage and made the world take notice

Mumbai's renaissance in this year's Pepsi IPL has been totally down to what the understated players in that lineup have achieved thus far.

The likes of Parthiv, Ambati Rayudu and Pandya can become obscure in a side that boasts of the Malingas, Kieron Pollards and Rohit Sharmas.

However, we simply cannot forget the contributions made by Parthiv and Rayudu, in particular, over the last four games, including yesterday's, which have seen this duo make big runs in crucial games for their side.

Rayudu, being a finisher, has come in at big-pressure situations and played some jaw-dropping innings that are not usually expected of the Hyderabadi batsman, who is more of a grafter.

Patel has been fluent at the top of the innings over the last four games, scoring boundaries at will and putting pressure on oppositions' new ball bowlers - Mitchell Johnson, Nehra and Tim Southee, to name a few - who simply haven't had an answer to the wicket-keeper batsman's audacious stroke-making.

Last night saw Pandya thrive on the big stage and make the world take notice of his talents. When pitted against another contender for the emerging player of the tournament, in Negi, the right-hander punched above his weight and played an absolute gem of an innings that saw Mumbai win from an improbable position of needing 30 runs in the final two overs.

On the field, he continued his good work, taking good catches and stopping boundaries - a display that might well have given him the confidence heading into the batting innings.

It is so pleasing to see MI's understated players come to the party and deliver under crunch circumstances. Such performances have made Mumbai a stronger unit than they first seemed, and yesterday's victory also showed that they are not over-reliant on the superstars of the side.

Mumbai prove their efficiency against CSK, once again

Mumbai have had the better of Chennai over the years in IPL history

As aforementioned, Mumbai had lost their previous four games - all three last season, and the reverse fixture this season - against Chennai, which made the head-to-head record between the sides look much more even, with 10-9 in favor of the South Indian franchise.

However, Mumbai have, over the years in the IPL, been the only side that has really gone toe-to-toe with Dhoni's devils and made them look an ordinary outfit.

Last night too, whenever CSK appeared to take a forward step, Mumbai did well to keep themselves in the game.

They bowled well for a majority of Chennai's innings, and Dhoni's side had notched up a mere 104 at the beginning of the 16th over. Then there was that partnership between Dhoni and Negi, who took their side to 158, giving themselves an advantage going into the second innings of the game.

However, the way MI came out all guns blazing, and took Chennai's bowling apart, was simply wonderful. They, once again, lost their way in the second half of their innings, leaving themselves with too much to do in the last five overs.

The home side started getting a stranglehold of proceedings, and it increasingly looked like MI had committed hara-kiri after getting off to such a good start.

But in Rayudu and Pandya, they once again found two heroes who pinched the game that was firmly in CSK's grasp, shocking the home crowd that is rather used to seeing their side winning and not let these kinds of situations go begging.

Final Thought

It really has been a massive turnaround in MI's season that began with four consecutive defeats. Having won five out of their last six games, they have got to 12 points from 11 games and given themselves a genuine chance of making it to the playoffs.

They still have major work to be done and cannot afford to take things for granted, as they play Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) - at home - in their next two games that will go a long way in deciding their fate.

The significance of yesterday's victory over Chennai just cannot be stressed enough, and Mumbai must be high on confidence given the manner of yesterday's triumph.

Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians: How The Indians Can Stop Super Kings From Roaring At The Lion's Den?

Mumbai has been the only IPL side to have gone toe-to-toe with Chennai over the years

Mumbai Indians (MI) face an away clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, in match 43 of this year's Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL).

The Super Kings have played to their pedigree this season too, dominating teams with a supreme brand of cricket and thriving on consistency in results; no wonder they are currently atop of the table and assured of a playoff spot.

The Indians, after suffering a calamitous start to their campaign with four straight defeats, have done well to register five wins from their next six games and give themselves a genuine chance of making it to the playoffs.

Mumbai have been the only IPL side that has gone toe-to-toe with CSK over the years, though they have failed to win any of their last four games including the ignominious 6-wicket defeat in the reverse fixture earlier in the season, against MS Dhoni's side.

Can they conjure up an unlikely victory tomorrow against the Super Kings, who are playing on another level compared to the rest of the IPL outfits? Read on...

Chennai

The Super Kings are one of the very few IPL sides that possess a wonderful blend of international stars and talented Indian players, who make up a significant 7 spots in their team's playing XI.

CSK's openers are the danger men as far as MI are concerned

The likes of Brendon McCullum, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Smith and Dwayne Bravo are devastating T20 players who have played to potential this time around too and been crucial to their side dominating the tournament until this point of the campaign.

McCullum, fresh from leading New Zealand into the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, has been impossible to bowl to and invariably provided his team with good starts at the top of the order.

He continues to play with so much confidence and no bowler has so far come up with an answer to his imperious approach to T20 batting.

Of late, though, the swashbuckling right-hander has struggled to kick on after getting off to starts and it has had a mitigating effect on his side, who, as a result, have not been able to post big totals or chase them down, like against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

McCullum is the leading run-scorer with 315 runs for the Super Kings, whose second highest scorer is Smith. The hard-hitting Caribbean opener has done well as a Super King after making the move from Mumbai last Indian summer.

Chennai's strength lies in the quick starts provided by their opening duo of McCullum and Smith, but the two-time IPL winners' middle-order, despite the presence of Suresh Raina, du Plessis and Dhoni himself, has surprisingly struggled to score runs this season.

Dhoni, in particular, has been woeful with the bat, struggling to rotate strike, getting bowled against medium pace bowlers and striking it at just 122 runs/100 balls, which, however, does not reflect how poor he has been.

Yes, both Dhoni and Raina have notched up over 200 runs each so far, however, when their side has been in a spot of bother, none of them have actually played a noteworthy innings. Such a pattern was palpable in their defeats, all of which have come away from home, against Rajasthan Royals (RR), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers this season.

It will be an area to target for tomorrow's visitors, who need to remind themselves that early wickets against CSK will give them a fair chance of winning the game.

Ashish Nehra has been in red-hot form with the ball this season

Coming to the bowling department, Ashish Nehra, without a shadow of doubt, has been in very good rhythm, bowling very good lines and lengths that have suffocated most batsmen from getting him away.

The left-arm seamer has been well backed up by Dwayne Bravo, who, with 16 wickets to his name, is a vital cog with the ball for CSK.

Mohit Sharma has continued from where he left off for India at the Cricket World Cup earlier in the year, though he has been a touch expensive and going at an economy rate of 8.6 runs-per-over.

Ravindra Jadeja has not been effective as in previous seasons, picking up just 5 wickets and conceding close to 8.5 runs-per-over.

Technically, he has become more round-armish and hence been quite easy for most batsmen to score runs off him while also feeling less threatened to be dismissed.

Ravichandran Ashwin's two-match absence has not affected his side from delivering results, as Pawan Negi has done well with the ball and as a lower order batsman. The home boy, however, is expected to recover in time for tomorrow's game.

Super Kings, as aforementioned, will look to set the tone early on in the innings, be it with the bat or ball.

They have got the personnel to wrest control of the game early on with quick runs or wickets, and will look to do exactly the same against what is actually proving to be a decent MI side that played poorly early on in the tournament.

Mumbai

The visitors come into this game on the back of four consecutive victories, which will have done their confidence a world of good.

They won their last fixture against Delhi Daredevils (DD) on Tuesday night, a victory that was crucial to keeping them in the hunt for making it to the playoffs, and will look to build on from the momentum they have gained recently.

The openers - Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons - have started delivering and been the cornerstone to their side's renaissance. Both the batsmen have been scoring runs recently and are in good touch ahead of this massive fixture.

Mumbai's middle order has had a lot of renovation done to it and simply hasn't look settled, with Rohit Sharma slotting himself at No.4 and Unmukt Chand predominantly being the No.3 batsman, who has failed to deliver.

Therefore, it is mighty important for Mumbai that Simmons and Parthiv get them off to a good start again, and thereby not put their middle order, comprising of free stroke-makers in Rohit and Kieron Pollard, in a catch-22 situation.

Rayudu has been instrumental to his side's recent victories

The form of Ambati Rayudu has simply been superb, with the Hyderabadi batsman playing two match-winning innings in his side's last three games: his 53 (27) against RR was flawless and helped his side post a formidable 187 on the board; against the Daredevils on Tuesday, boy, what a magnificent innings it turned out to be, under pressure?

At first he played second fiddle to Rohit when they were reeling at 40/4; he largely looked for singles and intended to give the strike back to the Mumbai batsman. Once Rohit was dismissed and MI were pushed into a tight corner, Rayudu's approach changed completely and he nonchalantly took his side over the line, with not much effort required from Pollard, who got himself a nice 14-ball 26.

Rayudu and Pollard getting runs should hold Mumbai in good stead, heading into the business end of the tournament that sees them face pivotal clashes against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and KKR after tomorrow night's game.

MI's bowling, along with their batting, has improved on its performance levels as the season has progressed, picking wickets, bowling economically and winning games for their side.

The drawback for MI is that Lasith Malinga will not be available for this game and, having returned to form with the ball, it is a massive hole to be filled for the visitors.

It will be interesting to see how they respond to that selection, and whether they look to strengthen the batting or give an outing to someone like Marchant de Lange, who has been warming the benches from game No.1.

Apart from that, Mitchell McClenaghan has been a crucial component in this MI revival that needs to keep going for the remaining 4 games if they are to make it to the last four.

The New Zealand seamer has picked up 9 wickets from 6 games and, apart from the last game when he got bludgeoned by Yuvraj Singh, added firepower to his side's bowling attack.

Harbhajan will hold the key to Mumbai's chances of winning

Harbhajan Singh had an impressive outing against DD after a couple of tough games with the ball, and the Turbanator will relish bowling at the Chepauk.

The form of Vinay Kumar and Jagadeesha Suchith - the Karnataka duo - has improved, as well, though it remains to be seen how they respond to the strong CSK batting lineup.

Like the hosts, the visitors will also depend on their new ball bowlers and opening batsmen to do their respective jobs well early on in the game, as that is where Dhoni's devils are at their strongest.

Final Thought

The M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, given the kind of surface that gets prepared to invariably suit the home side, overwhelmingly favors the side batting first, meaning that the toss becomes rather indispensable and, in many ways, has an influence on the end result of the game.

Chennai will start as favorites for this fixture, but Mumbai, given their form over the last five games, will be a force to reckon with.