Rachin Ravindra is fast becoming the last Black Cap standing in the Indian Premier League, after he helped Chennai Super Kings break a five-match losing streak.
Ravindra hit 37 off 22 balls at the top before Shivam Dube and 43-year-old MS Dhoni added the icing, in the Super Kings’ five-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants chasing 167 on Tuesday (NZT).
One of the IPL heavyweights of the past decade, coach Stephen Fleming’s Super Kings desperately needed victory after slumping to a five-match losing streak.
They still sit last on the 10-team ladder, with a 2-5 record in a 70-match regular season which runs until May 19.
Ravindra is a rarity in the IPL as a Black Caps frontliner getting regular playing time.
The left-handed opener played all seven of the Super Kings’ matches to date and scored 186 runs at an average of 31 and strike rate of 133. His season-opening 65 not out led Chennai to victory over Mumbai Indians, before a lean trot including three single-figure scores coincided with their losing streak.
Team-mate Devon Conway was dropped for the match against Lucknow after three innings this season for scores of 13, 69 and 12.
He made headlines for that innings of 69 off 49 balls against Punjab Kings when he was retired out, becoming the fifth player replaced under the IPL’s super sub rule.
Conway was dragged in the 18th over with Chennai needing 49 more runs off 13 balls, and his replacement Ravindra Jadeja couldn’t turn around their fortunes.
It was a tough week for the small New Zealand contingent in the mega-wealthy T20 league, as Glenn Phillips and Lockie Ferguson both suffered tournament-ending injuries.
Phillips was yet to play a match for Gujarat Titans before he suffered a groin injury while a substitute fielder, and was assisted off the ground.
He had since returned to New Zealand, ESPNCricinfo reported.
Ferguson had taken five wickets at 21 in four matches for Punjab Kings before he hobbled off after bowling just two deliveries against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
“Ferguson is out indefinitely, and the chances of us getting him back by the end of the tournament are very slim,” Kings bowling coach James Hopes said.
That leaves Black Caps white ball captain Mitchell Santner and Trent Boult at Mumbai, along with Bevon Jacobs who is yet to make his IPL debut.
Boult has five wickets at 38 off 20 overs while Santner has struggled for his usual impact, taking just three wickets at 65 in 20.3 overs of left-arm spin.
Mumbai sit seventh with two wins and four losses.
The Black Caps’ next scheduled assignment is a T20 tri-series against Zimbabwe and South Africa starting in mid-July.
Their frontliners are currently scattered around the IPL, Pakistan Super League and England’s County Championship.