Kolkata Knight Riders beat Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in the IPL 2022 opener at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
CSK’s famed batting line-up disappointed as they could manage only 131 runs in 20 overs. Last year’s Orange Cap winner Ruturaj Gaikwad was dismissed for a golden duck, while his opening partner and new recruit Devon Conway could muster only three runs.
The middle order comprising Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu and new captain Ravindra Jadeja played important cameos, but it was former skipper MS Dhoni who helped CSK reach a decent total of 131. Batting at number six, Dhoni played a vintage knock, remaining unbeaten on 50. His half-century was laced with seven boundaries and a maximum. One of the boundaries came off his trademark helicopter shot which had fans rolling down the memory lane. Dhoni is now also the only player in IPL history to register a half-century in the opening game.
131 runs were never going to be enough on a batting-friendly Wankhede surface, and as was expected, KKR gunned down the target without much hiccups. Ajinkya Rahane, who was roped in for Rs 1 crore in the auction, opened the batting with Venkatesh Iyer, who was the star performer for KKR last year.
Rahane scored 44 off 34, but Iyer managed only 16 runs off as many balls. Nitish Rana, coming in at number two, chipped in with 21 runs, new entrant Sam Billings scored 25, while Captain Shreyas Iyer and wicketkeeper Sheldon Jackson remained unbeaten on 20 and three runs respectively.
Earlier in the game, Umesh Yadav took two wickets while Varun Chakaravarthy and Andre Russell picked one each. For CSK, Dwayne Bravo picked up three wickets and Mitchell Santner chipped in with one.
CSK will next play the Lucknow Super Giants on March 31. For KKR, their next assignment will be against Royal Challengers Bangalore on March 30.
Image credit : BCCI/IPL
