Chennai, Mumbai Show Value Of Spinners In IPL Thriller

Much of the talk ahead of the 18th season of the Indian Premier League had been about teams potentially going past 300 runs but Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians showed that the bowlers, particularly spinners, will still have a huge role to play.

Afghanistan's Noor Ahmad registered the best figures for a Chennai spinner against Mumbai with 4-18, restricting the five-times champions to a below-par 155-9 and laying the foundation for his team's four-wicket victory on Sunday.

Despite having only a modest total to defend, Mumbai pushed Chennai hard, as unheralded debutant Vignesh Puthur bagged 3-32 with his left-arm wrist spin.

"It feels special to play here in the IPL," Ahmad said.

"I'm happy for the team and happy with my contribution. The focus was to land the ball in the right areas and the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav was special, the stumping from Mahendra Singh Dhoni was out of this world.

"It feels great to have someone like him behind the stumps, it's a great support for me."

Chennai skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said his spin unit had done exactly as they expected on a turning track at home.

"Right after the auction, we were excited about bowling three spinners in tandem at Chepauk Stadium," he said, referring to the trio of Ahmad, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.

"Noor brings the X-factor."

Quality spinners in world cricket can sometimes be a rare commodity and Mumbai skipper Yadav was full of praise for the 24-year-old Puthur, who is yet to play senior cricket for his state, Kerala.

"It's amazing, Mumbai is known for that - giving youngsters opportunities. The scouts do this for 10 months and he (Vignesh) is a product of that," Yadav added.

"I kept one over of his in my pocket if the game went deep, but it was a no-brainer to give him the 18th over."

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