Abu Dhabi: Ambati Rayudu smashed a 48-ball 71 to guide Chennai Super Kings to a comprehensive five-wicket win over defending champions Mumbai Indians in the opening match of the 13th IPL here on Saturday.
Chasing 163 to win, Rayudu blasted six fours and three sixes in his blitering innings, while Faf du Plessis cracked 58 off 44 balls as CSK romped home with four balls to spare. Earlier, Mumbai Indians posted a challenging 162 for nine after Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl. The highlight of Mumbai’s innings was Saurabh Tiwary’s 42 off 31 balls and Quinton de Kock’s 20-ball 33 at the top. For CSK, Lungi Ngidi (3/38) was the most successful bowler while Ravindra Jadeja (2/42) and Deepak Chahar (2/32) captured two wickets apiece and Sam Curran (1/28) and Piyush Chawla (4/21) picked one each.
Earlier in the day, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s astute captaincy was backed up by some brilliant bowling at the back end as Chennai Super Kings restricted Mumbai Indians to 162 for nine in the opening IPL game here on Saturday.
CSK’s new recruits — leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (1/21 in 4 overs) and left-arm seamer Sam Curran (1/28 in 4 overs) — made a fantastic first impression while Lungi Ngidi (3/38 in 4 overs) and Deepak Chahar (2/32 in 4 overs) came back brilliantly at the death overs. For Mumbai Indians, Quinton de Kock (33 off 20 balls, 5×4) and Saurabh Tiwary (42 off 31 balls, 3×4, 1×6) played well, but couldn’t convert their starts as the defending champions got only 76 runs in their back-10. De Kock started in a blazing fashion and launched straight into Chahar and Ngidi as 45 came off the first four overs. The shrewd Dhoni then introduced Chawla into the attack and he right away dismissed Rohit Sharma (12) who always have had a problem with wrist spinners. It was a straight delivery that Rohit was trying to hit inside out but couldn’t get past Curran at the mid-off circle. The seamer was back in action as he got rid of De Kock with a well disguised off-cutter, which the batman hit straight to Shane Watson at mid-wicket. Suryakumar Yadav (17) and Tiwary added 44 to steady the ship but some good outfielding in the back-10 from the likes of Curran and Faf du Plessis had MI struggling at 124 for five from 92 for two. As an anchor, Tiwary proved to be a decent choice as he hit the first six off this year’s IPL, off Ravindra Jadeja.
Brief Score: Mumbai Indians: 162 for 9 in 20 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 42; Lungi Ngidi 3/38, Ravindra Jadeja 2/42). Chennai Super Kings: 166 in 19.2 overs (Ambati Rayudu 71; Faf du Plessis 58; Trent Boult 1/23). (PTI)
