Cricket’s biggest bonanza began with the El Classico of the tournament, with last year’s finalists going head to head in the opening encounter. MSD’s Chennai Super Kings were taking on Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians, who’ve come into this tournament as the title defenders. Unlike all the other editions of the IPL, this opening game was a lot more subdued. Empty stands, no opening ceremony, no glamour. But the hype was still there. Millions, if not billions – were glued to their TVs, waiting for the carnival to begin.
MSD won the toss and put the opposition in to bat. With the massive factor that due plays in the sweltering humidity of UAE, that decision was a no brainer. Rohit Sharma came out to bat with his opening partner Quinton de Kock, and they started off in magnificent fashion. The first ball of the season was dominatingly put away for four. MI stamped their authority – scoring 44 in the first 4 overs of the game, with both the batsmen scoring at rate of knots.
A couple of wickets towards the back end of the Powerplay put CSK back into the game. After that, their bowlers kept things a little tight, as they got the RR down to 8.6 after 10 overs. Left-hander Saurabh Tiwary then took the game on, scoring 42 off 31, striking at 135. With a few big hits towards the end of the innings from Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard, the defending champions put up a defendable total of 162 on the board in their 20 overs.
It was then time for the Men in Yellow to come out and put up a show. But their chase was immediately halted as the Aussie and Kiwi pace duo of James Pattinson and Trent Boult made early inroads in the CSK lineup, sending Murali Vijay and Shane Watson back to the dug-out. Two quick wickets, and suddenly it looked as though it was going to down to the wire. But then two of the many veterans came to the rescue for CSK and steadied the ship. Ambati Rayudu and Faf Du Plessis strung together a much-needed huge partnership of 116, which consisted of crisp Cricketing shots.
It was a sight to behold for anyone who loves technically sound batting, as their 14 over long partnership had every pretty shot in the book- Inside outs, cover drives, flicks, pulls, you name it. CSK looked like it was going to cruise home, until a couple of wickets fell in quick succession and it was level pegging once again.
But a strategic move from MSD to send Sam Curran ahead of himself proved to be the game changer. It was a move that sent the tide towards CSK completely. With 29 needed off 3 overs, Krunal Pandya’s 18th over was sent to the cleaners. Sam Curran even took on India’s premier bowler at the death, Jasprit Bumrah. The English left hander ended his cameo of 18 off 6 deliveries, doing exactly what was asked from him. From then on it was a walk in the park for CSK as they chased down the remaining runs down with ease.
Mumbai often tend to have sloppy start. Their fielding, which probably cost them the game tonight, looks like a major concern going ahead in the tournament. CSK on the other hand, looked impressive with both bat and in the field. Their boundary catching was exceptional. It would be interesting to see if MI can pull things back, work on their shortcoming and comeback in this season as they have in the past. These two teams are giants of the tournament, and going ahead, we can be sure of seeing a lot more entertainment packed matches out of these two teams.
-Vibhor Dubey
The Average Cricketer 