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Super Kings post 173/8 against Mumbai Indians

Chennai Super Kings batsmen fired in unison to rattle up a challenging 173 for eight against Mumbai Indians in an Indian Premier League here on Sunday.

The visitors were given a flying start by a struggling Murali Vijay, who made a quick-fire 41 in 29 balls with four fours and three sixes, and the in-form Francois du Plessis (9). The duo put on 47 in 32 balls before falling in quick succession.

Suresh Raina, who made a belligerent 21-ball 36 with three fours and two sixes, and Dwayne Bravo (40 off 33 balls) built on the fine foundation in the middle overs.

Later Bravo, who hit four fours and a six, and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (25 in 15 balls) added a breezy 44 runs in 22 balls for the fourth wicket to put the Super Kings on the way to a good score.

Chennai added 50 runs in the last five overs, but also lost wickets regularly that helped hosts curtail the run-rate.

Lasith Malinga (3/25) and R P Singh (3/28), included in place of Pragyan Ojha, were the most successful bowlers for Mumbai with three wickets each.

Skipper Harbhajan Singh was economical but did not get wickets even as most of the other bowlers, especially Munaf Patel, were very expensive.

Vijay, a total flop this season with just 45 runs, finanlly found form as he tore into Patel in the his second over, slamming him for 24 runs with successive hits for three sixes and a four.

Vijay hooked Munaf when the bowler pitched it short for a six over square leg. He later smote the bowler for a lofted four and then two successive sixes over the mid-wicket region with utter disdain.

His belligerence helped the visitors race to 46 in five overs with Plessis playing second fiddle.

A terrible piece of misunderstanding between the Chennai openers helped Mumbai dismiss Plessis when he was sent back by Vijay following a push to mid-on but was beaten by RP Singh's direct hit at the bowler end stumps.

Singh thus made amends for a terrible piece of fielding earlier when he dropped a sitter off Plessis off Munaf Patel.
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