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The MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings emerged victorious against Mumbai Indians in a one-sided contest in the ‘El Classico’ at the Wankhede. Ajinkya Rahane turned out to be the hero for Chennai with the bat and struck an impressive half-century, and propelled Chennai to a domineering seven-wicket victory.

Chennai’s chase was off to a shaky start after opener Devon Conway departed in the first over without troubling the scorers. The home side was looking to build on their brilliant start in the second innings, but all their good work was undone by a swashbuckling innings from veteran Indian batter Ajinkya Rahane.

Rahane made his intentions clear after dispatching Jason Behrendorff for a brilliant maximum. But it was the following over from Arshad Khan, which truly swung the momentum in CSK’s favour as Rahane punished the young pacer for 23 runs which included one maximum and four consecutive boundaries. 

The 34-year-old eye-pleasing stroke maker blitzed his way to a 19-ball half-century, the fastest of IPL 2023, and eventually departed after scoring 61 runs off just 27 deliveries. But his dismissal came a bit too late for the home side as the Yellow Army were well on their way to sealing their second victory of the campaign.

Earlier in the match, Rohit Sharma’s team were invited to bat first after Chennai Super Kings won the toss in front of a full house crowd at the Wankhede. Mumbai were off to a decent start after Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan stitched a brisk 38-run stand for the first wicket.

However, the Mumbai skipper was sent packing by a peach of a delivery from Tushar Deshpande in the fourth over of the powerplay. Despite his dismissal, Kishan kept playing his shots, which eventually led to his downfall in the first over after the field restrictions. Ravindra Jadeja, who got rid of the well-set Mumbai opener, started dictating the terms along with Mitchell Santner.

Best batter of the match

Ajinkya Rahane was the best batter of the match as he amassed 61 off 27 balls and his stupendous knock included seven fours and three sixes. He took the pressure off and hit the ground running. He scored his runs at an impressive strike rate of 225.93.

Best bowler of the match

Ravindra Jadeja was unstoppable with the ball in hand as he broke the back of Mumbai Indians’ batting order. On a wicket that was fairly good for batting, Jadeja wreak havoc with the ball in hand and conceded runs at a miserly rate of 5 runs per over.

What’s next for both teams?

While Mumbai Indians will next take on Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday, April 11, Chennai will host Rajasthan on April 12, Wednesday on their home turf.