Chennai Super Kings played its IPL 2022 season opener against Kolkata Knight Riders. It suffered a six-wicket defeat, as social media was left surprised.
It was a top effort from former two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). It tamed four-time defending champion Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by six wickets in Match 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. As Ravindra Jadeja kicked off his CSK captaincy stint with a loss, social media was left surprised.
Winning the toss, KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer opted to bowl, as three players in the side made their debut. CSK was off to a rocky start, losing a couple of wickets by the fifth over of the powerplay, with 28 runs on the board. The KKR bowlers were in total control, as CSK was restricted to 61/5 by the 11th over.
MS Dhoni tonight: pic.twitter.com/9ULnPyxrne
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14)FOLLOW ALL IPL 2022 UPDATES HERE
However, former skipper MS Dhoni (50*) changed the scenario. Along with Jadeja (26*), he contributed 70 for the sixth wicket to allow CSK to finish on a somewhat par total. Dhoni remained unbeaten after scoring his 24th IPL half-century, while CSK put up 47 runs in the final three overs. Pacer Umesh Yadav claimed a couple, while mystery spinner Sunil Narine was the most economical for KKR.
Well played by .
He started slowly but used his experience and a combination of composure, aggression and common sense to get to where they are.
Their bowlers will have to bowl exceedingly well to defend the total on this pitch. pic.twitter.com/BmfKRyDJOd
In reply, KKR started well, while it lost its first wicket at 43, with Venkatesh Iyer (16) departing in the seventh. Thirty-three runs later, Nitish Rana (21) walked back in the tenth, as pacer Dwayne Bravo was the one to provide the opening couple of breakthroughs. Opener Ajinkya Rahane (44), who was going good, fell to spinner Mitchell Santner in the next over, at 87.
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Believe in NO 7 !! 💪🏼
TAT 4 on the COUNTRY IS WORLD CLASS !!
Flick from the Strongest Wrist ✊🪧🙌🏿 ❤️ pic.twitter.com/0aGvk97Qgl
33 runs later, Sam Billings (25) departed to Bravo in the 18th. However, the score was too low to be defended, as Iyer (20*) and Sheldon Jackson (3) got the job done by the 19th over, thus winning by six wickets. Bravo was the star for CSK, claiming three and was also the most economical from his side.
Brief scores: CSK 131/5 (Dhoni- 50*; Umesh- 2/20) lost to KKR 133/4 in 18.3 overs (Rahane- 44; Bravo- 3/20) by six wickets