IPL 7: Chennai Super Kings rule the night

DUBAI: The Mumbai Indians are the only team in the IPL now to have not won a match yet this season.
But that is not what's making them cut a very sorry figure on the field in the UAE. It has been a mix of poor batting, ordinary bowling and some very bad fielding lapses that's hurting the defending champions, their team owners, coaches, support staff and of course the fans.
The seven-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings at the Dubai Cricket Stadium on Friday seemed like a highlight package of all that Mumbai Indians have done wrong so far in the tournament.
The openers have looked listless - as they did against the CSK; the bowlers have failed to figure their line and length - as Lasith Malinga & Co. showed while getting whacked all around the park; and the fielders have dropped sitters to worsen the gloom - as Kieron Pollard spilling the catch at long-on suggested.
In fact, Pollard running to take an easy catch at long-on while waving at a fielder running from mid-on to step aside, and then eventually dropping the easy one was a sore sight for the Mumbai Indians on Friday night. That drop alone seemed like a prologue of sorts to the miserable story they've managed to script so far in the tournament.
The Super Kings had little to do on Friday to win the match, except fielding first, bowling a good line, fielding the way they've fielded so far in the tournament and chasing a paltry target. The rest was accomplished by the Mumbai Indians themselves to their own despair. Medium pacer Mohit Sharma (4/14) was the man of the match.
Michael Hussey, MI's new recruit this season and a former CSK star, has not even been a shadow of himself so far. Mr Cricket's no-show has deeply affected MI's prospects at the top of the order, especially with Sachin Tendulkar not around this year.