During the 27th match of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) at Pune, Chennai Super Kings scored 169-5 in their allotted quota of 20 overs.
After Rohit Sharma won the toss and put the Super Kings in to bat, the home team started on a slow note. Their run rate saw an upward curve only after Suresh Raina joined Ambati Rayudu in the middle. At the end of the powerplay, the Super Kings had scored 51-1.
The duo continued to play their shots even after the fielding restrictions were lifted. At the halfway mark, they had raced to 91-1. Once Rayudu got out, MS Dhoni looked set to play a substantial innings, but the slog overs were not the most productive ones for them.
Apart from losing Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo in quick succession, what also hurt Chennai in the slog overs was a disappointing run rate, which perhaps didn’t aid them to finish the innings as well as they would have liked. Had it not been Raina’s resistance, Chennai would have scored much less than what they eventually ended up registering.
Raina top-scored for the home team as he scored 75* (47) with the help of six fours and four sixes. For the Indians, with bowling figures of 4-0-26-2, Mitchell McClenaghan was the pick of the bowlers.
Watch how Twitter reacted on Chennai Super Kings’ innings:
The last time MI played without Kieron Pollard in #IPL – against SRH at Hyderabad on 18 April 2016 (SRH won by 7 wkts!)#CSKvMI#IPL2018
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) April 28, 2018
Top class knock by Suresh Raina. Without his contribution CSK would have been in dire straits
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 28, 2018
CSK – The Most Best Balanced Batting Side In IPL 2018 ! ✌️Today Chinna Thala #Raina 🙏
— Kettavan Memes ツ (@kettavan_Memes) April 28, 2018
Like all the heroes in action and a big contribution towards winning….Raina's name adds today to the list after Bravo Watson Rayudu Dhoni Billings! #YellowPoduWhistlePodu @ImRaina have been waiting for this Raina day!😘😘💛💛
— 💛😍RAINA's PRIYANKA😍💛 (@PriyankaSmile_) April 28, 2018
The pitch seems to have slowed? Raina is happy to chip than hit sixes. Strange end to the innings.
— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) April 28, 2018
🍿ready? #MahiMaarRahaHai! #CSKvMI #RivalryWeek
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) April 28, 2018
Dhoni went down the track, played a full fledged shot, missed it and then safely came back to his crease without being stumped. And the keeper actually collected the ball cleanly. WTF. 😂 #CSKvMI
— Abhishek (@Sajjanlaunda) April 28, 2018
You can never know Dhoni. He can escalate from strike rate of 14 to strike rate of 200 really quick. #CSKvMI
— Rohit Sharma (@imWrong45) April 28, 2018
Commentators: “CSK is the number 1 supported team in the IPL”
HELL YEAH! 💛😍😎
— RS| LostGirl (@Rsehgs) April 28, 2018
Left arm spin to Watson. That’s the sub-plot most teams must make a note of. #CSKvMI #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 28, 2018
Just 2 Balls, 2 Wickets And #MumbaiIndians Are Back Into The Game. Now Time For Me To Keep Away The Phone And Get Padded Up. 💛#CSKvMI #CSKvsMI #WhistlePodu
— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) April 28, 2018
Dhoni's movements in a slow motion look like they are being fast forwarded. How quick is this man?#CSKvMI
— Kini198129 (@Kini198129) April 28, 2018
