A half-century from Rohit Sharma and a four-wicket haul from Lasith Malinga saw Mumbai Indians consign Chennai Super Kings to their largest IPL defeat at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday (April 26).

Chasing 156 to win, CSK could only manage 109 before being dismissed as MI took wickets at regular intervals to ensure the result never really seemed in doubt.

CSK got off to a poor start as they lost Shane Watson in the very first over, giving a simple catch to Rahul Chahar off Lasith Malinga’s bowling.

Stand-in skipper Suresh Raina didn’t do much with the bat either, going for an attacking shot against Hardik Pandya but getting caught by Suryakumar Yadav.

Ambati Rayudu and Kedar Jadhav both departed cheaply, leaving CSK in a spot of bother. On previous occasions when they have found themselves in such situations, MS Dhoni was key in guiding them out of trouble.

The skipper pulled out of the game due to fever and as a result CSK struggled. Murali Vijay, playing his first game of the season, looked to bat deep but ended up giving away his wicket just after debutant Dhruv Shorey had done the same.

A lot now depended on Dwayne Bravo and Mitchell Santner, with the latter having won a similarly close game against RR. Yet there was to be no encore.

Bravo was caught and bowled by Malinga, a crucial wicket at that juncture. Deepak Chahar and Harbhajan Singh then departed trying to go for big shots off Bumrah and Malinga respectively.

Santner was the last man to go in similar fashion, looking for a big shot off Malinga but only finding Hardik in the deep, ensuring CSK notched their joint second lowest total in IPL history.

Earlier, put in to bat after CSK won the toss, a half-century from Rohit and a useful lower-order knock from Hardik saw Mumbai post 155-4 in their 20 overs.

Rohit top-scored for the away side but a lack of another big score from the batting order meant his side would have to defend a low total, albeit one that was challenging on a surface that assisted spinners.

Quinton de Kock, so key to MI in previous matches, could only score 15 before edging one to Rayudu behind the stumps off Chahar.

Undeterred, Rohit continued to take on the CSK bowlers. Along with Evin Lewis, who played the slower knock of the two, they added 75 runs between them.

However, just as the two looked like they could kick on and propel MI to a big score, Lewis holed out to Bravo off Santner.

Krunal Pandya was dismissed by Imran Tahir for just 1 and Rohit too departed shortly thereafter, getting caught by Vijay in the deep when he was going for a big shot.

MI’s innings looked on the verge of capitulation before some fireworks from Hardik as well as a useful knock from Kieron Pollard took them past the 150-run mark.

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