Mumbai: Ajinkya Rahane smashed the fastest half-century of IPL 2023 off just 19 balls and Ruturaj Gaikwad struck an unbeaten 40 to power Chennai Super Kings to a seven-wicket win over Mumbai Indians here on Saturday. An ordinary Mumbai Indians succumbed to their second consecutive defeat in as many matches while CSK recorded their second win on the trot, moving to the fourth spot in the points table while the five-time winners remained at eighth.
The 34-year-old Rahane made a cracking debut for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, producing one of the most brutal knocks in the competition to make 61 from only 27 balls with seven fours and three sixes while recording the fastest fifty of the league this year. Rahane's blitz and Gaikwad's knock, combined with the efforts of Chennai spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner who shared five wickets earlier, fuelled CSK's win over arch rivals Mumbai Indians.
CSK finished at 159/3 in 18.1 overs chasing 158, winning with 11 balls to spare. Rahane collected 23 runs hitting Arshad Khan for four boundaries and a six in the fourth over while CSK's young gun Gaikwad happily took the backseat. Rahane truly looked at home on his 'home ground' Wankhede Stadium, unleashing delightful strokes that reaffirmed Chennai Super Kings' command on the game.
Rahane and Gaikwad came together in the first over of CSK's chase with Devon Conway playing one onto his wickets off Jason Behrendorff. They added 82 runs for the second wicket before Rahane perished in the eighth over, caught by Suryakumar Yadav off Piyush Chawla.
With Rahane's blitz at the top and CSK bringing down the equation to almost a run-a-ball by the 10th over, Gaikwad enjoyed the freedom to build his innings. The right-handed opener struck his first four only on the 20th delivery and in the 10th over when CSK were nearing the 100-run mark.
Gaikwad made 40 not out from 36 balls with two fours and a six, adding 43 runs for the third wicket with Shivam Dube (28) and another 34 runs with Ambati Rayudu (20 not out) to take CSK over the line. Earlier, Jadeja (4-0-20-3) and Santner (4-0-28-2) shared five wickets to lead Chennai Super Kings' charge as Mumbai Indians hobbled to 157/8.
The pair halted Mumbai's advance after the home side had raced to 61 for one in the powerplay, with MI's fight petering out against CSK's spinners who made up for the absence of strike bowler Deepak Chahar. The India and CSK seamer looked far from best and struggled to even complete his first over, post which he left the field.
An opening stand of 38 runs between skipper Rohit Sharma (21 off 12 balls) and Ishan Kishan (32) was the best partnership for Mumbai, with Suryakumar Yadav's struggle continuing and young batters flopping again. Rohit hit the first six of the game off Tushar Deshpande (3-0-31-2) but the local player, playing for CSK, had the final laugh, rattling the MI captain off a terrific delivery that held its line to crash into the off and middle stump while the batter looked to play it on midwicket.
With a strong start Mumbai looked well-positioned to launch for a big total, but instead, collapsed to 84/5 in 10 overs, losing four wickets for just 23 runs in 24 balls with Jadeja and Santner causing the damage. Kishan made a brisk start but Jadeja had him caught at long on in the seventh over. Suryakumar was left baffled when MS Dhoni made the right DRS call appealing for a caught-behind in the eighth over, with the batter trying to sweep a delivery angled down the leg side from Santner.
The umpire, who had called it a wide, had to overturn his decision as replays showed the ball flicked Suryakumar's gloves before settling into Dhoni's. Mumbai's slide continued with Green (12) hitting one powerfully back at Jadeja, who grabbed a sharp catch.
Arshad Khan was adjudged out leg-before in the 10th over off Santner and Jadeja pinned Tilak Verma (22 off 18 balls) in front of the wickets to keep the Mumbai Indians under the pump. With pressure piling up, Tristan Stubbs (5) perished in the 16th over as South Africa's Sisanda Magala took his first wicket in the IPL for CSK. However, vital contributions from Tim David (31 off 22 balls) and Hrithik Shokeen (18 not out) took Mumbai past the 150-run mark. (PTI)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jadeja, Santner share five wickets as CSK keep Mumbai Indians to 157-8
Mumbai: Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner shared five wickets to lead Chennai Super Kings' charge as Mumbai Indians hobbled to 157/8 in their Indian Premier League clash here on Saturday. Jadeja (4-0-20-3) and Santner (4-0-28-2) halted Mumbai's advance after the home side had raced to 61 for one in the powerplay. Their fight petered out against CSK's spinners who made up for the absence of strike bowler Deepak Chahar.
The India and CSK seamer looked far from best and struggled to even complete his first over, post which he left the field here at the Wankhede Stadium. An opening stand of 38 runs between skipper Rohit Sharma (21 off 12 balls) and Ishan Kishan (32) was the best partnership for Mumbai with Suryakumar Yadav's struggle continuing and MI's battery of young batters flopping again.
Rohit hit the first six of the game off Tushar Deshpande (3-0-31-2) but the local player, playing for CSK, had the final laugh, rattling the MI captain off a terrific delivery that held its line to crash into the off and middle stump while the batter looked to play it on midwicket. With a strong start Mumbai looked well-positioned to launch for a big total, but instead, collapsed to 84/5 in 10 overs, losing four wickets for just 23 runs in 24 balls with Jadeja and Santner causing the damage.
Kishan had unleashed a flurry of fours on both sides of the wicket to get off the blocks quickly, but Jadeja had him caught at long on in the seventh over. Suryakumar was left baffled when MS Dhoni made the right DRS call appealing for a caught-behind in the eighth over, with the batter trying to sweep a delivery angled down the leg side from Santner.
The umpire, who had called it a wide, had to overturn his decision as replays showed the ball flicked Suryakumar's gloves before settling into Dhoni's. Mumbai's slide continued with Green (12) hitting one powerfully back at Jadeja, who grabbed a sharp catch. Arshad Khan was adjudged out leg-before in the 10th over with Santner bagging his second wicket and Jadeja pinned Tilak Verma (22 off 18 balls) in front of the wickets to keep the Mumbai Indians under the pump.
With pressure piling up, Tristan Stubbs (5) perished in the 16th over while looking to clear the long on with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Dwaine Pretorius combining to complete the dismissal, and South Africa's Sisanda Magala took his first wicket in the IPL for CSK. Tim David (31 off 22 balls) smacked a six and a four off Deshpande but hit one straight to another Mumbai player representing CSK for the first time, Ajinkya Rahane, at midwicket. Hrithik Shokeen (18 not out) and Piyush Chawla (5 not out) added 26 runs in the final overs to take MI past the 150-mark. (PTI)
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians: 157/8 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 32; Ravindra Jadeja 3/20).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mumbai: Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to bowl first against Rohit Sharma's Mumbai Indians in the IPL here on Saturday. CSK are playing Dwaine Pretorius and Ajinkya Rahane in place of an injured Ben Stokes and an unwell Moeen Ali. MI have rested pacer Jofra Archer in a precautionary move, according to Rohit.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (capt), Ishan Kishan (wk), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Tristan Stubbs, Arshad Khan, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff.
Chennai Super Kings: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk/capt), Shivam Dube, Dwaine Pretorius, Deepak Chahar, Mitchell Santner, Sisanda Magala, Tushar Deshpande.
PREVIEW:
Mumbai Indians (MI) need twin strikes of Rohit Sharma coming back to form and a spot-on captaincy against MS Dhoni's shrewd plotting as they take on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in what could be called the battle of champions in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Saturday.
After a week-long rest that followed with the lopsided victory of the Royal Challengers Bangalore over them, MI will look to get back on the winning side in front of cricket-crazy fans of Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. The win is a much-need one after Virat Kohli's lone innings demolished and demoralised Mumbai as they step onto the ground to put behind the defeat and begin afresh.
They will surely be benefited from the lack of experience of CSK's Rajvardhan Hangargekar and Tushar Deshpande, who were issued a warning by their captain Dhoni at the post-match presentation for conceding too many extras through wide and no-balls and the duo would find it doubly hard to challenge the Mumbai batters with the pitch mostly favoring the batters.
It would also be up to the spinners Moeen Ali and Mitchell Santner to make sure that the bowling looks intact in the face of some hard-hitting batters of Mumbai. Sisanda Magala, who can bowl wide yorkers at will might have a chance to don the Mumbai jersey by replacing Santner in the playing XI. Meanwhile, skipper Rohit Sharma whose runs have dried up in the last few seasons despite getting the starts, and has not been able to help the team's cause with big, blistering innings has eluded the captain from making a mark.
Mumbai's fate would also depend on their prime bowler Jofra Archer's performance who has to take up the mantle in the absence of star bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Others such as Arshad Khan, and Cameron Green might be easy meat on a strip that largely supports batting. Short, side dimensions of the ground will aid Chennai that possesses heavy weights like Ruturaj Gaikwad or Devon Conway.
Bumrah's absence owing to injury has been consistently felt in the team's composition. However, MI has done well in replacing Jhye Richardson with Australian quick Riley Meredith and by bringing Sandeep Warrier into the fold. Despite Wankhede being a batting paradise, it still offers early assistance to fast bowlers and Mumbai would look to grab that opportunity with both hands as CSK has looked susceptible and vulnerable in this department in the past two matches.
A lot will also rely on Suryakumar Yadav's big shoulders and how he performs having blown the opposition single-handedly in the past year. The silver lining for MI in the past game was up-and-coming youngster Tilak Verma who waged a lone battle against the RCB team along with Punjab's Nehal Wadhera, who too impressed everyone. Although, the team will look to put on display a collective show and a well-rounded performance to set the tone right.
In CSK's line-up, Gaikwad and Conway, and going by the form they are in, possess the potential to demolish any opposition single-handedly. Having two half-centuries to his name, Gaikwad has set the stage on fire and CSK would like him to carry on with how he has started off. Conway did miss out on a half-century in the game against Lucknow Super Giants, but his century partnership will make him the batter to reckon with in the matches to come.
Shivam Dube and Moeen Ali are essential elements in CSK's middle order and in Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni's presence, the 'Yellow Army' appears a notch ahead when compared to their Mumbai counterparts. Deepak Chahar's comeback after a prolonged injury has been rusty so far but he would look to make the best of the moisture provided by Mumbai's pitch early into the match.
If we are to go purely by the numbers, the MI team will take comfort in the fact that they have 20 victories out of the 34 times the two sides have met in 13 of the 15 editions of the Indian Premier League.
