IPL 2020 in UAE: Chennai Super Kings beat Mumbai Indians by 5 wickets in the opener — as it happened

Rayudu and Du Plessis help CSK launch their IPL 13 campaign in style

Last updated: September 20, 2020 | 09:34

Gulf News Report

3 MIN READ

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings players greet each other after the match.

Vipin Pawar/Sportzpics for BCCI

Also In This Package

IPL 2020 in UAE: Mumbai vs Chennai in pictures

IPL 2020 in UAE: Cool runnings from Delhi and KXIP

IPL in UAE: Kohli and RCB relax from pool to pool

Photos: Mumbai prepare for IPL opener against Chennai

Look: Yadav, Singh celebrate B'Day in Abu Dhabi

IPL in UAE: Kohli and RCB ready to celebrate 21st

Dubai: The wait and the speculation are finally over. Four-time champions Mumbai Indians are taking on Chennai Super Kings, three-time winners, in what is billed as the 'El Clasico' of the IPL to set the ball rolling for the 13th edition at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. Two talismanic captains, Rohit Sharma and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will be looking for an early win to kickstart their campaign in what is a replay of last year’s final. The tournament will be played behind closed doors - as of now - with an eye towards the safety of the fans and players.

Follow the match below as it happened ...

Click here for the full scoreboard

Jasprit Bumrah of Mumbai Indians bowls during the match.

Ambati Rayudu of the Chennai Super Kings in action.

Faf du Plessis of Chennai Super Kings plays a shot.

Mumbai total is good enough to win

Mumbai Indians’ score of 162 should be good enough to win. But credit to Chennai Super Kings for restricting them. When Mumbai initially threatened to take charge of the match, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni marshalled his bowlers adroitly to stem the flow of runs. Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja struck at crucial times and that allowed the pacemen to come back into match. Two of the three catches by Faf du Plessis were absolute blinders

It’s not easy to score runs. The wicket looks a bit slow and spinners are difficult to get away for runs. That would put pressure on batsmen to attack the pacers and that could spell trouble. That’s what Chennai Super Kings did. The onus now is on Mumbai bowlers

Chennai skipper MS Dhoni was pretty happy at the innings break as champs Mumbai were held to 162-9.

Lungisani Ngidi (left) and Ravindra Jadeja of Chennai Super Kings celebrate the wicket of James Pattinson of Mumbai Indians.

Deepak Chahar went in hunt of an early wicket for Chennai.

CSK were celebrating as De Kock departed on 33 after Sharma was removed on 12.

Chennai's Piyush Chawla was doing his bit to keep the score down.

There was applause all round as defending IPL champions Mumbai Indians and 2019 beaten finalists Chennai Super Kings got IPL 13 under way in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Quinton de Kock in action.

Rohit Sharma plays a shot.

A view of ground at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi as the match progressing.

MS Dhoni captain of Chennai Superkings and Rohit Sharma captain of Mumbai Indians during the toss.

General view of the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi before the start of the match.