Raina smashes 7 sixes, blasts 57 off 24 before IPL 11

With less than a week to go for the IPL 11, Suresh Raina has set the alarm bells ringing. The left-hander smashed an unbeaten 57 off just 24 balls, albeit in a practice match to signal a warning for his oppositions.

Raina cleared the boundary a staggering seven times in the practice match played at Chinnaswamy stadium between Huss XI (Michael Hussey) and Flem XI (Stephen Fleming) in the lead up to the IPL 2018.

The 20-over practice match was played with flexible rules as players were allowed to bat and bowl for both sides. The idea was to create a match-like situation to see how the players react under pressure.

Raina made full use of opportunity by batting with grace for both the sides. He first gave a rollicking start to the innings to the Huss XI by scoring 34 off 27 balls and then went to chase the 152-run target for Flem XI with an even better 57-run knock.

Delhi youngster Dhruv Shorey (47 off 30) and England opener Sam Billings (34) also got good match practice.

Chennai Super Kings start off their campaign on tournament opener against defending champions Mumbai Indians, and they would Raina can replicate this form to get them off to a flying start.