Spinners, Rahane lead CSK past MI

The Chennai Super Kings outmatched the Mumbai Indians in the much-anticipated encounter between the IPL’s two most successful sides at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday night. The spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner led the way for MS Dhoni’s men in Mumbai, picking up five wickets between them to restrict the hosts to 157 for 8 in 20 overs. Ajinkya Rahane then lit up the chase in his home city, smashing 61 of 27 deliveries to lead CSK to a statement victory with seven wickets to spare.

Both sides were forced to deal with injuries in the lead-up to this fixture, with Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, and Jofra Archer unavailable. Chennai’s problems also compounded in the first over of the match as Deepak Chahar hobbled off with an injury, leaving the Super Kings a bowler short for the rest of the innings.

Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan capitalised on CSK’s lack of bowling might with the new ball and smashed 36 runs in the opening 3.1 overs. However, just as Mumbai looked to be taking the ascendency, Tushar Deshpande removed Rohit Sharma with a peach that kissed the top of middle stump. MI still managed to score 61 runs in the powerplay, but the introduction of spin through the middle spelt their downfall. Ravindra Jadeja removed Ishan Kishan in his first over, while Mitchell Santner had Suryakumar Yadav caught down the leg side for 1.

Jadeja also took a stunning reflex return catch to send back Cameron Green in his second over, while Santner left MI reeling at 76 for 5 with the wicket of Arshad Khan.

Tilak Varma and Tim David attempted to stage a recovery, but both batters failed to stay till the end to take MI to a winning total. The youngster became Jadeja’s third victim of the night, while Tim David holed out to Ajinkya Rahane at deep mid-wicket for 31, with Mumbai limping to a first-innings score of 157.

In response, the home crowd was buoyed by the wicket of Devon Conway in the first over, but Ajinkya Rahane quickly silenced the Mumbai faithful by smashing the fastest half-century of the IPL so far. Rahane creamed one six and four fours against Arshad Khan in the fourth over and cleared the ropes against Behrendorff and Cameron Green on his way to a 19-ball half-century.

Rahane’s exploits took CSK to 68 for 1 at the end of the powerplay, and although the run rate slowed down through the middle, the visitors were always on course to complete the chase. Rahane finished with 61 off 28, while Gaikwad added an unbeaten 40 off 36 balls to see the Super Kings home in 18.1 overs, giving Chennai their second victory of the season in IPL 2023.