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

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 ...

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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