Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opened their IPL 2025 campaign with a comfortable four-wicket win over rivals Mumbai Indians (MI) in their tournament opener at Chepauk on Sunday evening. Opener Rachin Ravindra played an unbeaten knock of 65 while chasing, with Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad impressing everyone with a clutch half-century. In the first innings, Afghanistan spinner Noor Ahmed returned with four wickets for 18 runs without conceding a boundary.

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Also read | CSK vs MI: Chennai Super Kings open IPL 2025 campaign with comfortable win over Mumbai Indians

Chennai won the toss and elected to field first, bringing former spinner Ravichandran Ashwin back in the side, which included a few debutants. Seamer Khaleel Ahmed removed MI star opener Rohit Sharma on a four-ball duck before removing MI’s gloveman Ryan Rickelton soon after. Ashwin picked a wicket on his return to CSK after a decade, with MI losing three inside the Powerplay.

Seasoned campaigners, stand-in captain Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma steadied MI’s sinking ship, but not for long. CSK’s latest recruit, Noor Ahmed, tore into MI’s middle order, returning with four wickets on his debut for the franchise. 

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Although CSK pushed MI’s back against the wall, a late blitz from their former seamer Deepak Chahar propelled Mumbai to a fighting 155 for nine in 20 overs.

Rachin, Rutu see CSK home

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Rachin Ravindra continued his excellent touch at the top, while CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad came to the fore to help his team through in the first game. After Deepak removed CSK’s Impact Player sub – Rahul Tripathi, caught behind cheaply, Rachin and Ruturaj stitched a 67-run stand for the second wicket, which included 53 just from the skipper’s bat. 

However, the introduction of debutant unorthodox spinner Vignesh Puthur to the attack somewhat dented CSK’s scoring rate, as he picked three wickets, all biggies, including Gaikwad, Shivam Dube and Deepak Hooda.

England’s Sam Curran departed soon after before a mix-up between Ravindra Jadeja and Rachin resulted in another dismissal at the stroke of chase completion.

MS Dhoni walked down the track but couldn’t finish off the game. 

Rachin completed the formality by hitting his national teammate Mitchell Santner for a first-ball six in the last over to complete the chase.