CSK vs MI IPL 2021 opener: When Pollard played a blinder to take Mumbai home; Watch

The second leg of the Indian Premier League 2021 (IPL) will start with the match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) on Sunday. With the high-intensity tournament all set to return, the last time the two IPL giants faced each other was their last match of the first half and it was a mouthwatering fixture with Mumbai chasing down Chennai mammoth total of 218 courtesy of sensational fireworks show from Kieron Pollard who scored 87* off just 34, he also managed to some impressive bowling figures of 2/12 (2). Take a look at the cracking game here:

Prior to Pollard going all out, Faf du Plessis (50 off 28), Moeen Ali (58 off 36), and Ambati Rayudu (72 off 27) led-CSK to a fine total of 218. However, it came down to some brilliant batting from Pollard who hit 8 sixes and 6 fours. The best way to resume the IPL is by getting these two teams to face off against each other and hopefully, it will be as entertaining as the last time they faced each other.

CSK currently sits second on the points table with 10, they had an excellent start to the IPL 2021 having won five of their seven matches and maintaining a high net run rate (NRR) of +1.263. Mumbai Indians on the other hand sit in fourth place two points behind CSK having won four of their seven matches while maintaining a decent NRR of +0.062.

CSK vs MI head-to-head

CSK and MI have played each other a total of 31 times, out of which MI have won 19 matches and CSK won 12 matches. They have a combined of eight IPL titles among them out of the 13 seasons. Both the teams are considered to be the best teams statistically in the IPL, since its inaugural edition in 2008. MI clearly have the upper hand in terms of victories over CSK and have five IPL winning titles to their name under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. On the other hand, CSK led by MS Dhoni has won a total of three times in 2010, 2011, and 2018. While MI have clinched the title in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2020. The matches between both these giants are considered as the Indian version of ‘El Classico’ by the Indian cricket fans.

CSK and MI have faced each other a record number of four times in the Indian Premier League finals. Since 2008, MI and CSK have played in the tournament deciders four times in 2010, 2013, 2015, and 2019. In the first finals, they played against each other, CSK emerged as the winners after winning the match by 22 runs. In 2013, MI clinched their maiden IPL title after defeating CSK by 23 runs. Next in the 2015 finals, MI won their second IPL title against the same finalist by winning the match by 41 runs. The last IPL finals when they played against each other was the 2019 edition of the tournament, where MI clinched the match by 1 run.

(Image: @IPL/Twitter)