T20 2018: Finally, some joy for struggling Mumbai

Mumbai' opener Evin Lewis smashed a 43-ball 47 against Chennai on Saturday. File Pic

Openers Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis gave Mumbai a solid foundation to chase down a 170-run target with some quality batting against Chennai at the MCAâÂÂu00c2u0080ÂÂu00c2u0088Stadium here on Saturday. The duo managed to put on 69 runs for the opening wicket off 9.5 overs, with Yadav doing the bulk of scoring. Yadav continued his rich form in the IPL 2018 with his 34-ball 44-run knock, helping Mumbai score at a good pace.

Yadav was dismissed off the penultimate ball of the 10th over by Harbhajan Singh. But that's where Lewis shifted gears, smashing leg-spinner Imran Tahir for two sixes to take Mumbai to 93 for 1 at the end of 12 overs. Mumbai ended up winning by eight wickets as skipper Rohit Sharma (56') and Hardik Pandya (13') to frustrate the opposition.

Earlier, unbeaten half century from Suresh Raina (47-ball 75 not out), and useful knocks from Ambati Rayudu (46) and MS Dhoni (26) were the highlights of the Chennai innings after being put in to bat on a wicket that had indifferent bounce on Saturday. Despite losing Shane Watson, centurion of the last game here, early in the innings, Chennai made good use of the Powerplay overs to get to 51 for one. Rayudu was the primary reason for Chennai maintaining a good run rate in the first six overs, striking three sixes and two fours.

Raina, whose first scoring a shot was a six off left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya, kept finding boundaries comfortably at the start. The Rayudu-Raina partnership of 71 runs from 42 balls gave the hosts a nice launching pad. Mumbai pulled things back with some tight bowling at the beginning of the second half. Krunal had Rayudu caught at deep midwicket as the visitors conceded just 15 runs from four overs (Over No 11 to 14).

That's when Dhoni got into his act. He first smacked Hardik Pandya for two fours, and then hammered leg-spinner Mayank Markande for a four and a towering six. Mitchell McClenaghan soon got rid of Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo in the space of three balls. Raina then smashed a couple of sixes off the final two overs to post a 170-run target.

Also Read: T20 2018: Mumbai Can Be Dangerous, Says Chennai's Bowling Consultant Eric Simmons

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