Chennai clinch thrilling four wicket victory against Mumbai Indians
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Chennai: Chennai Super Kings secured a dramatic four wicket victory against Mumbai Indians in their opening match of the Indian Premier League here on Sunday.
In a game dominated by spinners, CSK chased down the target of 156 set by Mumbai in the last over. An unbeaten knock of 65 by Rachin Ravindra guided Chennai to a victory, while skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad's 53 runs became vital in their run chase.
Chasing a target of 156, Mumbai bowlers struggled to put up a challenge against CSK's batsmen until Malayali player Vignesh Puthur, the impact substitute was brought in to bowl in the seventh over. He made an immediate impact, taking his maiden wicket on the fifth ball by dismissing Ruturaj Gaikwad.
Vignesh again struck in his second over, dismissing Shivam Dube for nine runs. He claimed the wicket of Deepak Hooda in the 11th over, dismissing him for just three runs. With three wickets in three overs, it was a dream start for the youngster in IPL.
However, Rachin fought from one end, and Ravindra Jadeja assisted him in the endovers to take Chennai near the victory margin. Jadeja was dismissed in the 18th over, and MS Dhoni walked out to the pitch.
Dhoni faced two balls and Ravindra was on strike in the last over. He scored the winning runs for Chennai with Dhoni at the other end.
Earlier, called in to bat first, Khaleel Ahmed stunned Mumbai in the opening over by dismissing Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for a duck. Mumbai never fully recovered, as a disciplined Chennai bowling attack struck at crucial intervals to keep them under pressure.
Openers Ryan Rickelton and Will Jacks were never allowed to settle and were back in the dressing room with Mumbai's score stuck at just 36 runs. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav scored 29 runs but was dismissed in the 10th over by a quick stumping by MS Dhoni. The Indian T20 captain came down the pitch to hit Noor Ahmad for a big shot, but the spinner turned the ball away from him. As always, Dhoni was quick to react, nabbing the ball and whipping the bails off in a flash.
Tilak Varma tried to add some runs to the board but was dismissed by Noor for 31 runs. Deepak Chahar contributed at the tail end, adding some valuable runs. He made an unbeaten 28 runs off just 15 deliveries, guiding Mumbai to 155 runs.
Noor Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers, who took four wickets for just 18 runs. Khaleel Ahmed took three, while Nathan Ellis and veteran R Ashwin shared a wicket each.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 155/9 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 31, Suryakumar Yadav 29; Noor Ahmad 4/18, Khaleel Ahmed 3/29) lost to Chennai Super Kings 158/6 in 19.1 overs (Rachin Ravindra 65 not out, Ruturaj Gaikwad 53; Vignesh Puthur 3/32, Deepak Chahar 1/18) by four wickets.