T20 2018: Rohit Sharma steers Mumbai past Chennai by eight wickets

Rohit Sharma during the match PicAFPMumbai skipper Rohit Sharma smacked 56 not out as the underpressure defending champions registered a moraleboosting eightwicket win over Chennai who saw their threematch winning streak end in the T20 tournament in Pune on Saturday In pursuit of Chennais 1695 powered by Suresh Rainas plundering 47ball unbeaten 75 Rohit hit two sixes and six fours to ensure that Mumbai got over the line with eight wickets and two deliveries to spare to get their only second win in seven games Mumbai captain Rohit whose personal batting form was also questioned got good support from openers Ervin Lewis 44 and Suryakumar Yadav 44 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association StadiumEarlier Raina blasted a 47ball unbeaten 75 laced with six fours and four sixes and more importantly was involved in a 71run partnership with inform Ambati Rayudu 46 runs off 35 balls and another 46 runs with Mahendra Singh Dhoni 26 off 21 to propel the yellow brigade to a healthy total Put in to bat Chennai started the proceedings on a shaky note losing opener Shane Watson 12 in the fifth over with the scorecard reading 26 runsWatsons top edge was easily caught by Mayank Markande at square leg off the leftarm spinner Krunal Pandya delivery Raina then walked into the middle and played the perfect second fiddle to inform Rayudu taking Chennai close to the 100run mark Just when the duo looked settled Krunal struck again to break the partnership in the 12th over as a miscued shot from Rayudu landed safely in the hands of Ben Cuttings at deep midwicket Rayudu 35ball knock contained a couple of boundaries and four sixes His dismissal saw Dhoni joining Raina and some fireworks by the Chennai skipper saw the addition of another 46 runs in the next 55 oversMeanwhile Raina continued to keep the scorecard moving and brought up his fifty in the 17th over Mumbai pacer Mitchell McClenaghan ended Dhonis innings in the 18th over with Chennais score reading 1433 The Ranchi stumper consumed 21 balls and struck three boundaries and a six Dhoni also reached another milestone in Saturdays clash as he became the first skipper to lead any side 150 times in the IPLMcClenaghan once again jolted the hosts by packing Dwayne Bravo for a duck The hosts faultered a bit in the final moments of their innings as Sam Billings too departed after scoring just three off five balls Raina however ensured that he batted out the innings and finished off in style by clobbering Hardik Pandya for a six over midwicket to take the home team to a healthy score For Mumbai McClenaghan and Krunal were the pick of the bowlers picking two wickets each while Hardik bagged oneDuring the chase openers Ervin Lewis 44 and Suryakumar 44 shared a 69run stand before the latter was dismissed by veteran offspinner Harbhajan Singh in the fifth delivery of the 10th over Though it was a very good start for Mumbai Chennai bowlers did well to not allow the opening partnership to run away with the game Then captain Rohit joined hands with West Indian lefthander Lewis as they stitched together a partnership of 59 runs to keep the visitors in the hunt Medium pacer Dwayne Bravo bowled his international teammate Lewis in the first ball of the 17th over to give some hopes to the home side with Mumbai still needing 52 off 35 oversRohit and Hardik Pandya 13 not out batted sensibly cut down the target to 22 off two overs Rohit then hit medium pacer Shardul Thakur for four consecutive fours in the penultimate over to leave Mumbai five runs away from victory from the last over Rohit and Hardik dealt with three singles and one double off legspinner Imran Tahir to coast to the big win Despite the loss Chennai remained at the top of the table with 10 points while Mumbai jumped to the sixth spot with four pointsBrief Scores Chennai 1695 Suresh Raina 75 not out Ambati Rayudu 46 Mitchell McClenaghan 226 vs Mumbai 1702 in 194 overs Rohit Sharma 56 not out Ervin Lewis 44 Suryakumar Yadav 44 Harbhajan Singh 120 Imran Tahir 121Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever