IPL 2023: Ajinkya Rahane smashes his fastest half-century in tournament's history

Chennai Super Kings are comfortably dominating Mumbai Indians in the ongoing 12th match of the Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL). A much-changed Chennai bowling attack managed to restrict Mumbai to just 157/8 while bowling first at Mumbai’s iconic Wankhede Stadium.

Then Chennai lost opener Devon Conway for a duck in the second innings' fourth delivery as Mumbai Indians bowler Jason Behrendorff tried to balance the game. But CSK debutant Ajinkya Rahane stunned everyone by smashing a 19-ball fifty while playing at No 3. He scored six runs off his first six deliveries but erupted in the fourth over to shock everyone. 

He registered six and four consecutive fours off Arshad Khan’s over and looked settled for a big knock. The veteran batter pulled a spectacular six off Cameron Green in the fifth over and smashed two back-to-back fours in the next over to bring on his first half-century for Chennai Super Kings.

Rahane's 19-ball fifty is now the joint second-fastest fifty for Chennai Super Kings. The former iconic star Suresh Raina holds the record for CSK for his 16-ball fifty against Punjab Kings in IPL 2014.

Rahane didn’t get a chance in the first two games but injuries to Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali opened a door with a golden opportunity for the veteran. He has scored over 4000 runs in IPL with two hundreds and 29 half-centuries. But he has been off track for the last few seasons due to his well-known traditional approach across formats. 

But he proved his critics wrong by recording his fastest IPL fifty. His knock also helped Chennai thwart off an early pressure while chasing a tricky target as they scored 68/1 in powerplay overs and were in need of only 90 runs to win off the remaining 14 overs with Ruturaj Gaikwad on the crease. 

Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner stood out in the first innings, with the ball, to restrict Mumbai to just 157/8. Tushar Deshpande also picked two big wickets while another CSK debutant Sisanda Magala registered 1/37.