Chennai Super Kings put in a clinical display against Mumbai Indians (Sportzpics)
Ajinkya Rahane scored 61 runs, Ravindra Jadeja picked up 3 wickets as Chennai Super Kings defeated Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets in IPL 2023
Ajinkya Rahane smashed the fastest fifty of IPL 2023 as Chennai Super Kings breezed past Mumbai Indians to pick up a 7-wicket victory.
Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner helped restrict Mumbai Indians’ batting order to a total of 157/8, and in reply, Rahane’s brisk fifty put CSK in a commanding position as they chased down the required total with 11 balls to spare.
Jadeja picked up 3 wickets, Santner chipped in with 2 wickets, and Tushar Deshpande also contributed 2 wickets.
Apart from Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad was also on song, he returned with an unbeaten score of 40, and Shivam Dube scored 28.
Earlier in the match, CSK skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first, and it proved to be the correct decision as Mumbai Indians suffered a batting collapse following a steady start from Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan.
The MI openers stitched together a 38-run partnership before Deshpande removed Rohit to draw first blood for his side. From then on, the home side slumped to 76/5 shortly afterwards, as Jadeja ran riot, taking crucial wickets of Kishan, Cameron Green and Tilak Verma.
Tim David scored 31 runs in 22 balls and Hrithik Shokeen added 18 in 13 to put the finishing touches on the five-time champs’ total.
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In reply, CSK suffered an early blow in their chase as Devon Conway was dismissed on a duck by Jason Behrendroff however, Rahane and Ruturaj were on song as they took MI’s bowlers to the cleaners.
Rahane’s 19-ball fifty ensured that the Yellow Army were in a commanding position, with Gaikwad returning unbeaten and ensuring that CSK got over the line without any complications.
While the victory will boost the morale of MS Dhoni’s forces, the only downside from the win will be the fact that Deepak Chahar limped out of the match with an injury.
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The four-time champs already have lost Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali and Chahar’s unavailability could further dampen CSK’s hopes of winning their fifth IPL title this season.
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