Bowling and Wankhede stadium: Bowlers come to life at the stadium ground
The Kookaburra ball, which is routinely used for white-ball cricket and World Cups, has a tendency to stay true to the road rather than transfer, swing, or wobble. Only the new ball strikes in the IPL, where it is also employed. “Just for the first two overs,” says former India bowling coach Bharat Arun.
On the Wankhede on Thursday night (April 12), there was a one-of-a-kind story. The action observed during the Mumbai Indians and Chennai Tremendous Kings game stunned both coaches and players alike. Long after the introductory overs, the ball kept swinging and swinging. The IPL and Kookaburra suddenly came alive for the bowlers, resulting in a fascinating low-scoring match.
The bowlers, in particular, were not disappointed by the low scores. “I got some swing in the seventh or eighth over, which was unusual,” Riley Meredith said, surprised by the Kookaburra’s behavior that night. He was ‘certainly not complaining,’ he admitted. “I just attempted to get on the mark, high off the ground, and the ball swung in.” We didn’t change the speed because it was bothering them,” he continued.
The bounce off the ground was so good that CSK rookies Mukesh Choudhary and Simarjeet Singh, as well as Daniel Sams and Meredith of MI, looked deadly on the night. After all, there’s the invincible Jasprith Bumrah. It might be because of the cloud cover in Mumbai on Thursday, which didn’t auger well for the masses, who arrived in large numbers even on a working day. Even if MI won the game, they were not overjoyed. MI’s batsmen suffered just as much as their opponents, who lasted only 16 overs.
MS Dhoni, who never hesitates to start with spinners, did so in the tenth over with Maheesh Theekshana. Moeen Ali, an off-spinner, came in for the twelfth over. With three slips and a close-in fielder, it could have been mistaken for a Test match rather than an IPL encounter, if not for the colorful attire. It was a lively and fast-paced reenactment.
CSK coach Stephen Fleming said, “A little bit surprised by the support on offer after we bowled.” “Our bowlers (Mukesh and Simarjeet) looked aggressive and gave us a chance.” The expectation would have been for a high-scoring game, but 130–140 would have been manageable,” the New Zealander said, highlighting the unusually favorable bowling conditions.
Rohit Sharma, the victorious captain of the evening, was stunned. “It’s sometimes beneficial to get bowlers into the sport.” “It’s been batting-friendly throughout, with decent bounce and swing from both sides, which was pleasing to watch,” the MI skipper said.
The circumstances conspired to make it a low-scoring gripping duel between the perimeter pacers, and if MI won the game, it had a lot to do with their luck with the toss inside the game — they had to make the most of the proper bowling conditions. “It was wonderful to see things coming together, nice to see some swing today from the bowlers and pacers dominating,” Zaheer Khan, a member of MI’s teaching staff and a well-known exponent of swing bowling, observed.
CSK were bowled out for 98 runs, which MI chased down with 5 wickets in hand and 5.1 overs remaining.
