The ashes series is a well-known test rivalry between Australia and England. In the same way, there is a fierce rivalry between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in the IPL. Every time these two teams face each other, it’s a Feast for the audience and is widely known as the El Classico of cricket.
1. 2019 final
This match is the most thrilling IPL final of all time. The two most successful teams in the IPL are competing for their fourth title. Rohit Sharma won the toss and elected to bat first. His team put up 149 runs for eight wickets. Nobody scored more than 50. CSK’s Shane Watson scored 80(59). CSK was required to score two runs off the last ball to win when Malinga picked Shardul Thakur’s wicket. Therefore Mumbai clinched a fourth title with luck favoring them.
2. 2010 final
IPL’s third season saw these two teams face off in the final for the first time. It was CSK’s night as they won the trophy and the match by 22 runs. They scored 168/5, with Suresh Raina’s cracking 57/35. Tendulkar’s 48 of 25 wasn’t good enough to take MI over the line.
3. 2012 Eliminator
That night Chinnaswamy stadium hosted an exciting eliminator. Batting first, CSK scored 187 runs. It was utterly MS Dhoni‘s show. He grabbed the player of the match with his unbeaten 51(20) and three catches. None of the MI players scored more than 40 runs.
4. 2015 final match
MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first. Rohit Sharma played a captain’s innings scoring 50 off 26. Lendl Simmons also scored 68. MI Scored a total of 202 runs. Unfortunately, Chennai couldn’t chase it down as they only managed 161 runs at the end of 20 overs. None of the CSK batters couldn’t stand up to the occasion.
5. 2021 group match
This group stage match came down to the wire and was nerve-wracking. CSK batted first, and put up a total of 218 runs. Ambati Rayudu scored 72 runs. DuPlessis and Moeen Ali added their 50s. MI won on the last ball with Kieron Pollard at the helm. Pollard scored an unbeaten 87 off 34. Luck was on his side as he was dropped by Faf in the 18th over.
6. 2014 Eliminator
Chennai always had the higher hand in the playoffs. Suresh Raina scored an electrifying 54 off 33 balls. MI posted 173 runs, and CSK chased it down scoring 176 runs and winning it in the 19th over.
7. 2008 league match
Harbhajan Singh, the captain of MI won the toss and elected to bowl first. CSK scored 208 runs for fall of five wickets. Matthew Hayden was the match player for his 81(46). Raina added a quick 53 too. MI could only score 202 runs by the end of 20 overs, which led to CSK’s win by six runs. Abhishek Nayyar was MI’s top score with 48 runs.
8. 2022 league stage match
Alas, the El Classico everybody was waiting for had returned in the latest season. MSD won the toss and chose to bowl first. MI scored 155 runs with Tilak Varma‘s half-century. CSK won the match on the last ball, with Dhoni finishing off in style. Mukesh Chaudhary scalped three wickets. CSK beating Mumbai in Mumbai with Dhoni scoring the winning runs was a sight for sore eyes.
9. 2018 group match
CSK had returned from their two-year ban and played their first competition against MI. Chennai was looking to win the game by all means. They did win it in the penultimate ball of the match. MI had put up a total of 165 runs, and CSK’s batting lineup crumbled within 10 overs. Dwayne Bravo was the star scoring 68 runs with Kedar Jadhav hitting the winning four.
10. 2019 Qualifier
These two teams faced each other off in yet another playoff. Unusually, MI won it this time. CSK batted first and scored a rather disappointing 131 runs. MI found it difficult to chase the score down, but Suryakumar Yadav put up a one-man show hitting 71 runs off 54 balls, and stayed not out.
