Wankhede Stadium was witness to yet another El-Classico in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The clash between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) didn't go down to the wire but some serene batting from the very own 'Mumbaikar' Ajinkya Rahane paved the way for CSK's win. The four-time champions chased down 158 runs in the 19th over with seven wickets in hand pretty comfortably to win their second consecutive game of the season. However, apart from the win, the crowd at the Wankhede stadium made the evening memorable with the chants for the favourite son of the soil MS Dhoni.
The CSK skipper has a special relation with the venue having finished the World Cup 2011 final with a six and with IPL 2023 likely to be his swansong, the fans wanted to see his glimpse with the bat on the evening. 'We want Dhoni' chants lit up the entire Wankhede when CSK were coasting towards victory. Perhaps, MS Dhoni was also ready and padded up to walk out at number six but Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ambati Rayudu made sure there were no more hiccups in the chase for the side.
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As for the match, after being invited to bat first, MI openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan came out with aggressive intent. The duo added 38 runs in just 4 overs before Tushar Deshpande delivered a ripper to get the better of Rohit. Soon Kishan followed him to the dug out and MI were stuck in the middle overs thanks to CSK's spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner. Both shared five wickets between them for just 48 runs in their 8 overs combined as MI were restricted to 157/8 in their 20 overs.
In response, CSK lost Devon Conway for a duck but Ajinkya Rahane came out to bat at three and smashed the fastest fifty of the season so far. He played some delightful strokes and got the team off to a flyer scoring 61 runs off just 27 balls. By the time he got out, CSK were well on their way towards victory and Ruturaj Gaikwad made sure he held on to one end to take his team home.
