Ravindra leads Chennai to victory over Mumbai

Rachin Ravindra’s patient half century led Chennai Super Kings to a four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in their opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Chennai.

Chasing 156 to win on a spin-friendly surface, Ravindra finished unbeaten on 65 from 45 balls as Chennai reached their target with five balls to spare.

Chennai captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s more destructive 53 from 26 balls broke the back of the chase early on before a slight wobble to 116 for five.

But Ravindra held the innings together comfortably, hitting the winning runs with a six off his New Zealand teammate Mitchell Santner.

Wrist-spinner Vignesh Puthur was the pick of Mumbai’s bowlers with three for 32 while England’s Will Jacks bowled his international and Surrey teammate Sam Curran for four.

Mumbai posted a stuttering innings of 155 for nine as they struggled to recover from an early slip to 36 for three, with captain Suryakumar Yadav making 29 and Tilak Varma adding 31 but none of their batters were able to accelerate.

Afghanistan leg-spinner Noor Ahmad starred with four for 18 while seamer Khaleel Ahmed took three for 29 including the wicket of India’s Rohit Sharma for a duck in the first over.

(Agencies)

Chief scores:
Mumbai Indians: 155/9 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 31, Noor Ahmad 4/18, Khaleel Ahmed 3/29)
Chennai Super Kings: 158/6 in 19.1 overs (Rachin Ravindra 65 n.o, Ruturaj Gaikwad 53, Vignesh Puthur 3/32)