Ajinkya Rahane hits this IPL’s fastest 50 in Mumbai win over Chennai

In another one-sided game, league-leading Rajasthan Royals handed Delhi Capitals their third straight defeat.

Mumbai, Delhi and Sunrisers Hyderabad are all at the bottom of the table without a point.

Mumbai rested its big signing Jofra Archer as a precaution after the fast bowler complained of pain in his bowling arm. But it was the batting which disappointed.

Despite a bright start, Mumbai lost its way after captain Rohit Sharma was out for 21 and limped to 157-8. Chennai made short work of that in cruising to 159-3 with 11 balls to spare for its second win in three games.

Spinners Ravindra Jadeja (3-20) and Mitchell Santner (2-28) derailed Mumbai’s innings. Sharma was brilliantly squared up by Tushar Deshpande (2-31), who hit the top of the middle and off stumps.

Chennai was without its own key Englishmen in Ben Stokes (sore heel) and Moeen Ali (ill) and didn’t miss them. Rahane’s 61 off 27 balls included a six and four boundaries in one over. He raced to his half-century with two successive boundaries against legspinner Piyush Chawla within the powerplay. Rahane was finally dismissed when he miscued Chawla and holed out in the deep in the eighth over.

Ruturaj Gaikwad finished off the chase with an unbeaten 40.

RAJASTHAN THUMPS DELHI
Rajasthan openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal smacked half-centuries to launch them to 199-4 and a win by 57 runs.

Buttler blazed 79 off 51 balls and Jaiswal, who began with five boundaries in the first over, made 60 off 31 balls.

Delhi was squeezed to 142-9. Trent Boult’s double-wicket start in his 3-29 set the tone, and spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (3-27) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2-25) frustrated the middle order.

Made to bat first, Jaiswal raised his half-century off 25 balls with his 11th boundary by flicking left-arm spinner Axar Patel to wide long on. Jaiswal was dismissed in the ninth over when he top-edged Mukesh Kumar after a rollicking platform of 98 with Buttler.

Buttler hit 11 fours and a six and departed in the penultimate over when Kumar juggled a catch off his own bowling.

Shimron Hetmyer added a rapid 39 off 21 balls in the death overs, and the total was too intimidating for Delhi.

Boult was on a hat trick after he nicked off Prithvi Shaw and pinned Manish Pandey but Rilee Rossouw survived to make 14.

Lalit Yadav (38) and David Warner added 64 runs for the fourth wicket before Delhi lost six wickets for 40 runs. Boult returned and broke the stand by trapping Yadav. Warner labored for 55 balls for his 65 before he was lbw to Chahal in the 19th over. ___ More AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports