Afghanistan left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad spearheaded a tight spell as Chennai Super Kings kept Mumbai Indians to 159 for seven in a pivotal Indian Super League contest on Saturday. Noor finished with outstanding figures of 2/26 across his four overs, while Anshul Kamboj struck for 3/32. For MI, Naman Dhir was the standout with 57 from 37 balls, but the visitors looked flat after winning the toss. Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya faced 23 deliveries for his 18, underscoring a tough day for the batting unit.
Even though Mumbai’s total fell short of what they would have hoped for, they still managed to establish a major milestone. In their 286th T20 match, the franchise became the first side to reach the 50,000-run mark in T20 cricket.
They sit ahead of English county side Somerset, which has 48,244 runs from 303 T20 appearances, while Royal Challengers Bengaluru are next in line with 47,304 runs across 295 T20 games.
CSK’s early impact
CSK began on a strong footing with Mukesh Choudhary, who conceded just a single run in his opening over. Shortly after, IPL debutant Ramakrishna made an immediate difference by taking a brilliant catch to dismiss Will Jacks in the second over, bowled by Anshul Kamboj.
Jacks faced a ball outside off, stepped out and attempted a lofted shot, but mistimed his contact. Ramakrishna rushed in from deep backward point, dived fully to complete the catch, and sent the MA Chidambaram Stadium crowd into raptures.
With both teams’ tournament hopes hanging in the balance after a string of disappointing results, the match carried heavy stakes for Mumbai and Chennai alike.
MI’s batting story
MI’s opening boundary did not look convincing at first, as the ball came off Naman Dhir’s bat and rolled down to deep fine leg after Dhir attempted a flick.
However, Rickelton soon provided the momentum Mumbai needed, hammering Mukesh for two consecutive sixes—first over extra cover and then over deep midwicket—to get MI moving.
Naman continued to pile on the pressure, smashing Kamboj for a maximum as the innings progressed.
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad brought Prashant Veer into the attack, and Rickelton welcomed him with a productive over that produced three sixes, helping MI collect 18 runs in that spell.
Naman struck again, hitting Mukesh for his second six, as MI closed the powerplay on 57 for one.
Shivam Dube dropped Naman on 19 when the ball was coming off the bat, but CSK responded quickly. Rickelton was dismissed by left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad, and the opener, trying to target the deep midwicket area by going down on one knee, ended up handing the ball to Urvil Patel instead.
Middle-overs wickets and pressure
Ghosh kept things tight in his first IPL over, conceding only seven runs, including a six by Suryakumar Yadav, who struck 21 off 12 balls. Yadav also struck Noor for a maximum and a boundary, but the batter was unable to turn a quick start into a bigger score.
Ghosh eventually got the breakthrough, with Suryakumar caught in the deep. The dismissal came after Suryakumar tried to get the ball onto the desired line and guide it over cover, but the shot didn’t find the gap.
As MI played a number of dot balls during the middle overs, their next major setback arrived when Tilak Varma, attempting to sweep a turning delivery from Ruturaj Gaikwad, only managed a top-edge. The catch was taken cleanly, putting further strain on the innings.
After that, momentum deserted MI. Hardik and the rest of the batting unit struggled to find the big hits needed to accelerate, and the chase never truly took off.
