Seasoned India batter Ajinkya Rahane led by example with a 32-ball fifty as defending champions Mumbai got off to a winning start, beating Haryana by eight wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali domestic T20 in Jaipur on Monday.
Batting at No. 3, Rahane slammed three sixes and four boundaries in his unbeaten knock of 76 (43 balls), as Mumbai overhauled Haryana's target of 148 with 13 balls to spare.
Coming into bat after Mumbai lost their talented opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (12) in the second over, Rahane took charge of the run chase and was at ease against the likes of Yuzvendra Chahal, Harshal Patel and Mohit Sharma.
He raced to his 43rd T20 fifty in the 11th over with a six against Chahal. He also got a fine ally in Shivam Dube who chipped in with 26 not out off 20 balls.
Opting to bat, Haryana could not capitalise on their strong start and lost wickets at regular intervals and were restricted to 147/5.
Off-spinner Tanush Kotian (3/19 from three overs) and seamer Mohit Avasthi (2/15 from three overs) did all the damage in the middle.
Gaikwad slams 22-ball 50
Rahane's Chennai Super Kings teammate Ruturaj Gaikwad was also in full flow at Mohali to guide Maharashtra to a thumping eight-wicket win over Bengal.
Fresh from leading India to a gold medal triumph at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, Gaikwad slammed a 22-ball fifty en route to his 82 (40 balls; 9x4, 5x6) against Bengal.
Skipper Kedar Jadhav took charge with a 26-ball 40 not out as Maharashtra cantered home with more than five overs to spare.
Opting to bowl, the Kedar Jadhav-led side restricted Bengal to 158/6.
India A opener Abhimanyu Easwaran got out for a golden duck as Bengal suffered a poor start and were reduced to 55/2 after the powerplay.
Explosive all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed also got out cheaply before skipper Sudip Gharami (44; 34b) and rookie batter Ranjot Khaira (49 not out; 31b) revived their innings.
