CSK vs MI Highlights: Veteran Ajinkya Rahane’s fastest half-century of the season sets the tone as Chennai Super Kings defeated Mumbai Indians.
In a thrilling encounter between two of the most successful franchises in the IPL, Chennai Super Kings emerged victorious over Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium. CSK skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first, a decision that proved fruitful as the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner spun their web around MI’s batters, restricting them to a mere 157/8. Ishan Kishan top-scored for MI with 32 runs, while Tim David chipped in with 31.
CSK vs MI Highlights IPL 2023: Rahane’s Quickfire Fifty Guides CSK to Victory Against Mumbai Indians
Chasing a target of 158, veteran Ajinkya Rahane played a blistering knock, scoring a half-century off just 19 balls, the fastest of the season so far. Though he was dismissed for 61, the game was all but over when he lost his wicket. Ambati Rayudu hit the winning runs for CSK with 11 balls to spare.
MI’s star batters Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, and Cameron Green failed to fire against RCB, but Tilak Varma emerged as an unlikely hero with a magnificent half-century. However, MI’s bowlers lacked intensity as they failed to trouble RCB’s openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis.
Ahead of the mega clash, both teams suffered injury setbacks. Jofra Archer is likely to miss the CSK clash after sustaining an injury during a training session, while Ben Stokes may miss out due to a heel injury. Moeen Ali likened the intense rivalry between CSK and MI to the storied footballing rivalry of Manchester United and Liverpool, stating that this is one of the biggest games a cricketer can play outside of international cricket.
The full squads for both teams are as follows: Mumbai Indians – Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Tristan Stubbs, Vishnu Vinod, Cameron Green, Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh, Shams Mulani, Riley Meredith Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Arshad Khan, Duan Jansen, Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, Raghav Goyal, Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff, Akash Madhwal. Chennai Super Kings – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Sisanda Magala, Shivam Dube, Dwaine Pretorius, Ajay Mandal, Nishant Sindhu, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Simarjeet Singh, Matheesha Pathirana, Mahesh Theekshana, Bhagath Verma, Prashant Solanki, Shaikh Rasheed, Tushar Deshpande.