Ajinkya Rahane, an outcast from India, made his presence known in his first IPL 2023 match by scoring the fastest half-century of the year on Saturday.
Rahane entered at no. After MI seamer Jason Behrendorff dismissed Devon Conway for a duck. 3 were added in the first over of CSK’s 158-run chase. With his first two runs, Rahane missed the mark.
Rahane increased the stakes in Behrendroff’s second over by swivel-pulling a short ball over deep fine leg for six before exploding in the following over.
At the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Chennai Super Kings’ chase against Mumbai Indians got off to a quick start when Rahane raced to his fifty off just 19 balls. He hit six boundaries and three maximums in the innings.
Twitter User’s Reaction on Rahane’s knock:
Ajinkya Rahane today, The redemption:
•Playing first match of this IPL.
•First match for CSK in IPL.
•Scored fifty in just 19 balls.
•Scored fifty within powerplay.
•2nd fastest fifty for CSK in IPL.
•Scored 61(27) while chasing.Take a bow, Ajinkya Rahane.#CSKvMI pic.twitter.com/qa1KDXbkNj
— Fans Crickets (@_fans_cricket) April 8, 2023
2012: Smashed six fours off Srinath Aravind's over
2023: Smashed five boundaries off Arshad Khan's overAjinkya Rahane is rolling back time 🫶#IPL #AjinkyaRahane #CSK pic.twitter.com/eoQ7j6pLAA
— CricTelegraph (@CricTelegraph) April 8, 2023
So happy for Ajinkya Rahane. He’s SO SO CSK kind of player. 💛 #MIvsCSK #Wankhede #IPL2023
— Vadalur Selvam (@Selvam_R7) April 8, 2023
The Jinx Show 🥶
@ 3rd number 😵#AjinkyaRahane #MIvsCSK #IPL2023 pic.twitter.com/ZJyvOhiaM4— Pranali Kharbikar | प्रणाली (@pranalibk28) April 8, 2023
Prior to Rahane, all-rounder Shardul Thakur of the Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals batsman Jos Buttler shared the record for the season’s quickest fifty-plus. The knock came off just 20 balls.
Earlier, as Mumbai Indians stumbled to 157/8, Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner shared five wickets to propel CSK to victory.
After the home team quickly reached 61 for one in the powerplay. Mumbai’s advance was stopped by Jadeja (4-0-20-3) and Santner (4-0-28-2). They lost the battle to CSK’s spinners, who filled in for strike bowler Deepak Chahar’s absence.
The Mumbai Indians were held to 157/8 at Wankhede Stadium thanks to the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner who threw their web around the team’s batters.
As Mumbai Indians struggled to recover and lost wickets frequently, the pair split five wickets amongst themselves. Tim David had 31 hits, but Ishan Kishan had 32 runs scored for him.
Chennai Super Kings displayed an epic performance against their greatest rival Mumbai Indians, where they have outclassed them in each and every department and made MI looks fragile.
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