Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
On Sunday, March 23, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) registered a comfortable four-wicket win over arch-rivals, Mumbai Indians (MI), to start their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign on a high. At the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, after Ruturaj Gaikwad-led the side with his well-made fifty, New Zealand batter Rachin Ravindra’s unbeaten 59 helped them chase down the 156-run target with ease.
After winning the toss, the CSK captain, Ruturaj Gaikwad decided to field first, wanting MI to take the strike early. Former MI skipper Rohit Sharma departed for a golden duck, their top order batting linup struggled to get runs on the board. Stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav played a 26-ball 29 along with a quick cameo from Tilak Varma’s bat, put at the end the side could only post 155 on the board.
Rachin Ravindra’s unbeaten 65 helps CSK finish with a four-wicket win
For CSK, Afghanistan bowler Noor Ahmed starred on his CSK debut, picking four wickets. Khaleel Ahmed also did not disappoint, registering the figures of 3/29 in four-over spell, whereas Nathan Ellis and R Ashwin picked a wicket each.
In the run chase for CSK, Rachin Ravindra and Ruturaj Gaikwad struck the chords right, playing gritty knocks. Although, the side lost Rahul tripathi early, the Rachin-Ruturaj duo scored majority of the runs during the chase. At the end, Rachin Ravindra closed the evening with a six when CSK needed three off six deliveries.
For the visitors, 24-year-old Vignesh Puthur was the pick from the bowling department. The youngster picked three wickets in his four-over spell, conceding 32 runs. Apart from him, Deepak Chahar, Will Jacks scalped a wicket each.
