CSK vs MI | Noor magic and level-headed Rachin hand MI 13th straight season-opener defeat

Asked to bat first, Mumbai Indians got off to a horrific start with Rohit Sharma innocously flicking Khaleel Ahmed straight to short midwicket to depart for a four-ball duck. The left-arm pacer added Ryan Rickelton to his tally too in his very next over after the Proteas had just pelted Sam Curran for two boundaries before Ravichandran Ashwin made it a triple whammy by having Will Jacks hole out in the fifth over to leave the visitors reeling at 36/3. Nevertheless, the young Tilak Varma arrived to the crease unfettered and immediately struck the veteran off-spinner for two boundaries to signal his intentions, inspiring skipper Suryakumar Yadav to free his hands too at the other end as he struck a maixmum in the final over of the powerplay to take the score to 52/3 at the end of six overs. However, once the field spread out, the hosts managed to restrict the scoring rate and conceded 30 runs in the next four overs, thus forcing SKY to try and heave one against Noor Ahmad only for MS Dhoni to flick off the bails after the failed attempt in a flash. The left-arm spinner went on to scalp Robin Minz and Tilak Varma too in his next over to seize back momentum once again as Mumbai found themselves teetering at 96/6 with seven overs to go. Naman Dhir tried to anchor the tail along in trying to get them to a competitive score but even he was undone by the Afghan around the legs in the 17th over. However, just when CSK seemed to have got the job done, Deepak Chahar emerged as an unexpected hurdle and smashed 28 runs off just 15 balls with two fours and as many maximums to help set a par target of 156 on the slow track.

Chahar continued the form with the ball as well by dispatching Rahul Tripathi in his first over, bringing skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad to the crease alongside Rachin Ravindra. In an uncharacteristic display, it was the former who took on the aggressor’s role in the powerplay, smashing six boundaries and two maximums to have the score reading an impressive 62/1 after six overs. The Maharshtra batter soon after brought up a 22-ball half-century, his quickest in the IPL, and even though he succumbed trying to take on T20 debutant Vignesh Puthur just five deliveries later, the equation already read a relatively simple 77 required from 72 balls. However, Suryakumar seized the opportunity to operate all his spinners Puthur, Mitchell Santner, Jacks, and Dhir in tandem as the scoring rate slowed down drastically, culminating in Puthur scalping Deepak Hooda and Jacks getting rid of Sam Curran in the process. By the time the final four overs rolled around, the equation once again read an interesting 31 required but with two experienced Ravindras Rachin and Jadeja at the crease. The latter calmed some nerves with a boundary off Trent Boult in the 17th over, while Kiwi smoked Puthur for two sixes in the 18th to effectively put matters to bed. However, the show wasn’t done yet as a mixup in the penultimate over brought Dhoni out to the crease amidst deafening applause but it was Rachin who struck the winning six to seal the win with five balls to spare.