IPL 2021: CSK suffer top-order collapse, courtesy of Milne and Boult

It was indeed a fiery start to the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, on Sunday. The New Zealand pair of Adam Milne and Trent Boult inflicted CSK’s top-order batting collapse. The Chennai-based team, coming into the match, were hoping to forget their poor outing in the UAE, but the Mumbai-based team had other ideas.

MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat on a ‘good wicket’ and thought that ‘setting a target’ would be a wise option. But clearly, the decision worked against the Yellow Army.

New Zealand quick Trent Boult opened the bowling attack for Mumbai Indians. He struck on the fifth ball of the first over to get rid of Faf du Plessis. The short ball received an extra bounce from the pitch and caught du Plessis off guard. The South African checked his shot at the last minute only for the ball to take an outside edge and fly straight to backward point, who was placed fine.

In the second over, Adam Milne was introduced in the bowling attack. It took only three balls for him to dismiss English international Moeen Ali for a duck. The left-handed batsman reached out for a wide delivery off Milne but a slap off him went straight down the throat of Saurabh Tiwary in the cover region. Moeen took the long walk back with a deserted look on his face.

A second duck for the Chennai Super Kings.

The next over saw their star batsman Ambati Rayudu walk back to the dressing room after being hit on the elbow off a Milne delivery that was banged in short.

In the third over, Boult showed his magic as he dismissed seasoned CSK player Suresh Raina. The left-handed batsman made room for himself to take on the bowler. But he miscued only to find Rahul Chahar at point. Raina departed for 4 off 6 balls.

The next victim was captain MS Dhoni, who departed just before the powerplay ended. Banged in short from Milne, Dhoni pulled with power but it wasn’t well-timed. Boult at deep square leg takes a well-judged catch at the boundary ropes.

The powerplay was disastrous for the Chennai-based franchise who were left in tatters.

At the end of six overs, Chennai Super Kings were reeling at 24/4 vs Mumbai Indians.