IPL 2020: CSK beat MI by 5 wickets in the season opener

The first match of the IPL 2020 has resulted in a CSK win over Mumbai Indians by 5 wickets on Saturday. Ambati Rayudu played a sensational knock of 71 runs off 48 balls, while Faf du Plessis anchored with the chase with an unbeaten 44-ball 58.

In pursuit of 162 by Mumbai, Chennai saw themselves reeling at 6 for 2 after 2 overs. But CSK wasn’t going to give up so easily. Ambati Rayudu then joined hands with Faf du Plessis and stitched a stellar 115-run partnership for the third wicket. The duo mixed caution with aggression and kept taking the game away from Mumbai. Striking at over 140, Ambati Rayudu proved as the game-changer for Chennai, while Faf du Plessis played as a second fiddle to the former.

In a bid to keep the right-left combination, MS Dhoni surprised everyone to send Rayudu and Sam Curran ahead of him. Though, the decision paid off both the players played valuable cameos and made the chase a lot easier in the end.

A determined Faf du Plessis made sure he stayed till the end as he completed the chase with two consecutive boundaries off the final over.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians compiled 162 runs in their 20 overs. The opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock started off brilliantly as they notched 45 in just 4 overs.CSK were going for runs all over the park until MS Dhoni brought on Piyush Chawla in the 5th innings.

The leg spinner straightway got them the breakthrough in the form of Rohit Sharma. Quinton de Kock went back in the next over as CSK was back in the game. Unexpected inclusion in the form of Saurabh Tiwari played a handy 42-run knock off 31 balls but no other batsmen no could score big as Rohit Sharma and Co. was restricted to a much lower total then what was expected.

Sam Curran was awarded the Man of the Match for his stellar performances both with bat and ball. The second match of IPL 2020 will be played on Sunday between Kings Eleven Punjab and Delhi Capitals.