Chennai Super Kings held their nerves to beat Chennai Super Kings in an enthralling IPL 2020 opener at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium. Chennai banked on Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis to chase down the target as Mumbai failed to stand with the ball. Speaking at the end of the game, Rohit Sharma said

Batting first, Mumbai could only manage 162 runs after a great start provided by Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock. Hardik Pandya and Saurabh Tiwary continued the onslaught but Chennai Super Kings pulled the brakes at the right time.

Chennai open account with a win

They took 7 for 64 in the second half of the innings. If their ground fielding was any better, Mumbai India would have found it difficult to even cross 150. Piyush Chawla and Sam Curran started the good work for Chennai which was finished by Lungi Ngidi.

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He was costly at the start but made a good comeback. Ngidi finished with three wickets, while Deepak Chahar and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with two each.

While everyone thought that it would be a cakewalk for Chennai, Mumbai Indians’ new recruits James Pattinson and Trent Boult struck early to put Mumbai on track. But Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu steadied the ship with a timely partnership. Rayudu scored a fine fifty before getting out at 71 runs but Mumbai cashed in on the opportunity with another timely wicket.

Rohit Sharma rues poor batting after Chennai loss

With 16 required off the last 12 balls, Sam Curran smacked a massive six off Jasprit Bumrah before getting out. But Faf du Plessis held his nerves to give Chennai a fine win to start the campaign.

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma seemed extremely unhappy with their performance. The batters couldn’t capitalise on the death overs capped by no-balls and misfielding, the defending champions looked completely out of colours.

“Batsmen didn’t carry on once they got in like Du Plessis and rayed did. That’s something we failed to do. But credit to CSK bowlers, they kept us guessing all the time. Something for us to learn. Still early days, but credit to CSK. We all want to start really well, it’s crucial in this tournament to get that balance right. A few things for us to learn from this game, we made mistakes. Hopefully, we can rectify those and come back stronger,” Rohit Sharma said at the end of the game.