CSK beat Mumbai Indians by one wicket in a thriller

FT ONLINE

Dwayne Bravo blasted 68 off 30 balls and Kedar Jadhav held his nerves to help Chennai Super Kings beat defending champions Mumbai Indians by one wicket in the 2018 Indian Premier League season opener at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Saturday.

Needing seven to win in the last over with just a wicket left, Jadhav hit a six off the fourth ball to level the contest and drove a classic four through the covers to seal the deal.

Chasing a challenging 166-run target, CSK lost wickets at regular intervals and were staring at defeat on 118/8 in 16.3 overs. But Bravo had other plans as he played an innings to remember and clobbered seven sixes and three fours in his belligerent knock. CSK made their return to IPL fold after two years a memorable one.

Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu started the chase steadily as they scored 19 runs, without much risk, in the first three overs. Watson smacked Hardik Pandya over extra cover for first six of CSK innings but while trying a similar shot he was holed out at deep for 16. After that CSK lost the momentum.

Pandya then dismissed Suresh Raina in his next over to reduce CSK to 42/2 after six overs. Three balls later, debutant Mayank Markande trapped Ambati Rayudu leg before to add more misery to the visitors. Rayudu scored 22 off 19 balls with the help of four boundaries.

MS Dhoni came at No. 5 in the seventh over, but couldn't last long as he became the second victim of young Markande in the ninth over. CSK were struggling on 56/4 at the half-way mark.

CSK lost half their side for 75 in 12 overs, when Mustafizur Rahman dismissed Ravindra Jadeja for 12. Markande then removed Deepak Chahar for nought in the 13th over, and Mitchell McClenaghan got rid of Harbhajan Singh in the 15th. Mark Wood then became Hardik's third wicket in the 17th over.

Bravo though kept CSK in the hunt as he scored boundaries with ease and kept the scoreboard ticking.

Earlier, all-rounder Krunal Pandya smashed a quickfire 41 not out off 22 balls as Mumbai Indians recovered from a poor start to post a challenging 165 for 4.

Mumbai Indians were struggling at 20 for 2 after openers Evin Lewis (0) and skipper Rohit Sharma (15) were dismissed cheaply on a track that assisted seamers.

A 78-run stand for the third wicket between Suryakumar Yadav (43 in 29 balls) and Ishan Kishan (40 off 29 balls) put MI back on track before Pandya brothers Krunal and Hardik added unbeaten 52 in 5.2 overs to take their team past 160-run mark.

Krunal stuck two boundaries and a six in the 17th over as he punished Wood (0/49 in 4 overs), who conceded 19 runs. He kept on hitting the odd balls and was aided by Hardik. Krunal was in his element as he again punished Wood hitting two boundaries and a six in the 19th over, which fetched them another 17 runs.

Asked to bat in front of a capacity crowd, right-arm seamer Chahar trapped Lewis in front of the wicket with an outswinger. Debutant Lewis used the DRS, the first in the IPL's history, but the decision remained in CSK's favour.

Skipper Rohit struggled against the moving delivery due to lack of feet movement as Watson removed him when he top edged one to Rayudu.

urya and Kishan then steered the team out of trouble with the 78 runs coming in 52 balls. Surya made his intentions clear by striking a four and six off Watson in the sixth over. Kishan then stuck two boundaries and a six off Imran Tahir as Mumbai amassed 18 runs in the 11th over. Then Surya hammered Bravo for three consecutive fours in the 12th over. But as they looked good for a big total, Watson struck again removing Surya with a bouncer and Kishan was caught at short third-man off Tahir.

For CSK, veteran Watson (2-29) was the pick of the bowlers.

Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 169/9 in 19.5 overs (Dwayne Bravo 68; Mayank Markande 3/23) beat Mumbai Indians 165/4 (Krunal Pandya 41*; Shane Watson 2/29) by one wicket