Suresh Raina scored his third half-century of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018 while getting Chennai Super Kings (CSK) off to a good start against Rajasthan Royals (RR). Raina had a rather comical moment on the field in the 10th over when he was trying to complete a single. The left-handed batsman mistimed a shot off a short delivery as Jaydev Unadkat took the pace off the ball. The ball went towards RR skipper Ajinkya Rahane who had a shy at the stumps.
Raina was nowhere near the non-striker crease but Rahane’s throw missed the stumps. While sprinting towards the non-striker end, Raina ran into Umpire Marais Erasmus. On the follow through, Raina almost hugged Erasmus as he went a little off balance.
Here’s the video of the incident that had everyone laughing –
Suresh Raina hugs umpirehttps://t.co/vmZIsTGf29
— Faizal Khan (@faizalkhanm9) May 11, 2018
He was given a lifeline when he was batting on 41 from 26 deliveries. He had done damage to RR in the powerplay overs. He could not inflict more pain on RR bowlers and got out soon after completing his half-century.
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He scored 52 runs from 35 balls including 6 fours and a six. Ish Sodhi got the better of him on the last ball of the 13th over. Raina could not pick the googly from the Kiwi leg-spinner. The miscued sweep went towards short fine leg fielder Stuart Binny who completed the catch comfortably.
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CSK posted a total of 176 for the loss of four wickets, thanks to cameos from skipper MS Dhoni and Sam Billings. Raina made his presence felt in the slip cordon as well. He took the catch of RR skipper Ajinkya Rahane after it went past Dhoni’s gloves.
