Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings hand hosts a comprehensive 7-wicket defeat
MUMBAI: Not much has gone right for Ajinkya Rahane in the last few years. After losing his place in the Test side, the former India Test skipper somehow managed to find a team in the IPL this year when Chennai Super Kings bought him for Rs 50 lakhs at the IPL auction in December last year.
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On Saturday night, the 34-year-old showed that he wasn't done yet, shining brightly in the 'El Clasico' of the IPL. Enjoying a dream debut for CSK, the veteran batsman unleashed a blistering 61-run knock at the Wankhede Stadium, which included seven sweetly-timed fours and three powerfully struck sixes, to fashion his new IPL team's thumping seven-wicket win over arch-rivals Mumbai Indians.
1/10:IPL 2023: Ajinkya Rahane blitz helps Chennai Super Kings floor Mumbai Indians
TNN
2/10:Ajinkya Rahane
<p>Ajinkya Rahane hit the fastest fifty of the IPL season in 19 balls as Chennai Super Kings hammered Mumbai Indians by seven wickets on Saturday. </p>TNN
3/10:Dazzling debut
<p>Rahane's 27-ball 61 on debut for Chennai, guided them to their target of 158 with 11 balls to spare at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium. </p>ANI
4/10:Rohit Sharma
<p>Despite a bright start, Mumbai Indians lost their way after captain Rohit Sharma was out for 21.</p>PTI
5/10:Tushar Deshpande
<p>Rohit was brilliantly squared up by Tushar Deshpande who hit the top of the middle and off stumps. </p>PTI
6/10:Ravindra Jadeja
<p>Ravindra Jadeja dismissed Ishan Kishan (32), Cameron Green (12) after an excellent caught and bowled, and Tilak Varma (22) to keep Mumbai to 157-8. </p>AFP
7/10:Mitchell Santner
<p>Jadeja was ably supported by New Zealand left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, who returned figures of 2-28. </p>TNN
8/10:Tim David
<p>Tim David's late cameo of 31 boosted Mumbai's total but was still not enough to challenge the Chennai batting. </p>IANS
9/10:Rahane on the rampage
<p>Coming in after the fall of Devon Conway for a duck, Rahane tore into the Mumbai attack smashing 7 fours and 3 sixes. </p>IANS
10/10:Rahane blitz
<p>Rahane's knock included a six and four boundaries in one over and he was finally dismissed by Piyush Chawla in the eighth over. </p>TNNIt was CSK's second win in three games, while MI, who look to be carrying their poor form from last year into this season, have lost both their matches so far.
Chasing 159, CSK suffered a jolt when opener Devon Conway was out for a duck on the fourth ball of the innings, chopping a Jason Behrendorff delivery onto his stumps. However, Rahane's 19-ball fifty-his first in the IPL since 2020 and IPL 2023's quickest so far, turned the chase into a canter. In the fourth over, the Mumbaikar, in an unusually murderous mood, took 23 runs off Arshad Khan, carting the left-arm pacer for five consecutive boundaries - a six followed by four fours.
Rahane's blitzkrieg was supplemented by the in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad, who, coming off back to back half-centuries, stroked 40 not out (36b, 2x4, 1x6), while adding 82 with Rahane for the second wicket in just 44 balls for the second wicket.
Earlier, for the first half-an hour or so, it seemed to be MI's night. All that could go wrong was going wrong for the visitors. At the toss, skipper MS Dhoni revealed that the visitors would be without their big English stars Ben Stokes (injury) and Moeen Ali (unwell).
1/10:IPL 2023: Ajinkya Rahane hits fastest half-century of the season
ANI
2/10:Ajinkya Rahane
<p>Playing his first match of the IPL 2023 for Chennai Super Kings, Ajinkya Rahane smashed the fastest half-century of the season on Saturday. </p>AP
3/10:50 off 19 balls
<p>Rahane raced to his fifty off just 19 balls to get the CSK run chase off to a brisk start against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. </p>AP
4/10:Shardul Thakur
<p>Before Rahane, Rajasthan Royals' Jos Buttler and KKR's Shardul Thakur held the joint record of scoring the fastest fifty this season, off 20 balls. </p>PTI
5/10:India loss, CSK gain
<p>After losing his place in the Test side, Rahane found a team in the IPL this year when CSK bought him for Rs 50 lakhs at the auction in December last year. </p>IANS
6/10:Not done yet
<p>On Saturday night, the 34-year-old Rahane showed that he wasn't done yet, shining brightly in the 'El Clasico' of the IPL. </p>PTI
7/10:Dream debut
<p>Enjoying a dream debut for CSK, Rahane unleashed a blistering 61-run knock, which included seven sweetly-timed fours and three powerfully struck sixes.</p>AP
8/10:CSK beat MI
<p>Rahane's knock fashioned CSK's thumping seven-wicket win over arch-rivals Mumbai Indians. </p>AP
9/10:First IPL fifty since 2020
<p>Rahane's 19-ball fifty, his first in the IPL since 2020 and IPL 2023's quickest so far, turned the CSK chase into a canter. </p>TNN
10/10:Absolute carnage
<p>In the fourth over, Rahane took 23 runs off Arshad Khan, carting the left-arm pacer for five consecutive boundaries - a six followed by four fours. </p>APThen, after bowling just the first over, their leading pacer, Deepak Chahar, pulled up his left hamstring and hobbled out of the ground for good.
Shrugging off all these setbacks, CSK fought back brilliantly through their top-class left-arm spinners Ravindra Jadeja (3-20 in 4 overs), who has always enjoyed bowling at the Wankhede, and Mitchell Santner (2-28 in 4 overs) to restrict MI to 157 for 8.
Both the CSK trump cards made sure they capitalised on the slight turn and bounce that the pitch was offering.
