Ajinkya Rahane on Saturday hit the fastest fifty of the IPL season in 19 balls as Chennai Super Kings hammered the Mumbai Indians by seven wickets.
In another show of destructive batting, England’s Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal powered the Rajasthan Royals to the top of the table with a 57-run demolition of Delhi Capitals.
David Warner’s Delhi slumped to their third loss of the season despite the captain top-scoring with 65 and becoming the first overseas player to score more thant 6,000 IPL runs.
However, Rahane stood out as the day’s best performer with his 27-ball 61 on debut for Chennai, guiding them to their target of 158 with 11 balls to spare at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
“Me and Jinks [Ajinkya] spoke at the start of the season, and I told him to play to his strengths, use your ability to manipulate the fields,” Chennai captain M.S. Dhoni said. “I told him to go and enjoy, don’t take stress and we’ll back you.”
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