The 11th edition of the Indian Premier League got underway as arch-rivals Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings locked horns in the opening encounter of the tournament. It was CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni who won the toss and put the hosts in. Mumbai Indians began poorly losing both their openers Evin Lewis and Rohit Sharma in quick succession.
However, it was a brilliant innings by Suryakumar Yadav which helped them recover and post a competitive total on the board. It was a quickfire innings of 41 runs of 22 deliveries by Krunal Pandya which eventually propelled Mumbai to a score of 165 in their allotted 20 overs. He looked in tremendous touch and made up for the dodgy effort by his younger brother Hardik.
Chasing a tricky total, Chennai Super Kings lost Shane Watson after he got them off to a good start. Ambati Rayudu was his partner. At the score of 27, it was Hardik Pandya who provided the maiden breakthrough in the form of Watson’s wicket. Pandya also sent back Suresh Raina in quick time to put off the oppositions.
Young leg-spinner Mayank Markande was impressive in his opening spell as he dismissed Ambati Rayudu with a terrific leg break. He missed out on his 2nd wicket when Rohit Sharma didn’t go for the review of Kedar Jadhav.
However, he got the prized wicket of Dhoni in his very next over as he bamboozled him with a wrong un. The ball came in sharply and struck him plumb in front. He went for the review but as expected the decision went in favour of the bowling team.
Here’s the Newsfeed:
IPL 2018: Watch – Harbhajan Singh Kicks the Ball to Send-off Surya Kumar Yadav
IPL 2018: Kevin Pietersen Hails Great Man Rohit Sharma For Endorsing Save Rhinos Campaign
