Rohit, Suryakumar fifties seal NRR-boosting win for MI

Mumbai Indians (MI) put up a third straight win in IPL 2025 as they outgunned a Chennai Super Kings (CSK) side shorn of hitting power. The lack of batting showed in how they played a highly cagey brand of cricket, only targeting certain pockets and conceding match-ups without protest. It took them three overs to hit a boundary, then they went 27 balls in the middle overs without even attempting one, only to cap it off with no boundary in the 17th and 18th overs, bowled by MI's best bowlers on the night: Jasprit Bumrah and Mitchell Santner.

Not only did MI manage a run-rate boost with the win that takes them to eight points in eight matches, they also welcomed Rohit Sharma back to runs. Rohit scored his first fifty this IPL - his previous highest was 26 - and put up MI's first half-century opening stand this IPL with Ryan Rickelton, and Suryakumar Yadav got the better of CSK's spin threat with his various sweeps.

This match was played on the pitch that produced 430 runs earlier in the season for MI and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). The toss, as usual, was a big advantage at Wankhede. Which should make it important to look for above-par scores, but CSK took the pragmatic route: don't risk 120 all out looking for 200. Consequently, their openers tested waters for too long, timing shots straight to fielders. When Shaik Rasheed finally hit one in the air, and for a four, CSK had only 16 in three overs.

Rachin Ravindra by now felt he had to target the change bowler without a sighter. He looked to go big down the ground, and edged the first ball by Ashwani Kumar. His replacement at the wicket, CSK's youngest player ever, the 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre, injected some life into the innings with flair reminiscent of Dwayne Bravo. It still meant only 48 runs in the powerplay. An unperturbed MI stayed with Deepak Chahar for a fourth straight over, eventually resulting in the legcutter that got Mhatre out for 32 off 15.

Santner produced a beauty in the eighth over at 77kph to have Rasheed stumped on the defence, but that brought together Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja. They have batting behind these two, but those are MS Dhoni, Jamie Overton and Vijay Shankar. So these two decided not to hit anything even though their coming together meant Santner was taken off despite figures of 2-0-8-1. Put together, CSK didn't make a boundary attempt between Mhatre's dismissal and the return of Trent Boult in the 12th over.

To be fair to CSK, they did well when they went after Boult and Ashwani, taking 85 in the six overs bowled by them. Dube raced away from 16 off 19 to a 30-ball fifty even as Jadeja hovered around a run-a-ball. However, when Bumrah got Dube with a slower ball, it allowed MI to bring back Santner for the 18th over because Dhoni and Jadeja were in the middle.

Santner bowled the 18th without a boundary, and it was only a late surge from Jadeja off Boult in the last over that took CSK to a modicum of respectability.

MI have been resurgent in recent times, but they might feel this was the final missing piece in the puzzle: a sizeable opening partnership, and Rohit carrying on from a quick start. He was severe on early errors from the quick bowlers, haring away to 32 off 18 in the powerplay, hitting three sweetly timed sixes. Only R Ashwin managed to keep him quiet. However, he went on to get the better of Ashwin when he slog-swept him for a six in the eighth over.

That six still didn't take Rohit to a run-a-ball in his head-to-head against Ashwin in all these years, but it must have provided him a sense of victory against his old foe.

Rohit was not the only one getting better of nemeses. Suryakumar entered this match with just 50 runs and four dismissals off 65 Jadeja deliveries. It was Jadeja that brought Suryakumar into the middle with the wicket of Rickleton in the seventh over. In the ninth over, Suryakumar drove Jadeja over extra cover for four followed by a swept six, his first career six off Jadeja.

This was only a harbinger of what was to come. In all, Suryakumar played nine sweeps for a whopping 35 runs. Three of them flew over the ropes, four others ended in the advertising boards. He outpaced Rohit with ease, and his flourish made sure MI got a big net-run-rate boost, winning with 4.2 overs to spare.