IPL 2018: 3 close encounters where CSK emerged victorious
The Chennai Super Kings returning to the IPL after two long years created a lot of buzz in the IPL community. CSK were one of the most decorated teams in the IPL before they were discontinued for two years.
It was soon auction time for the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League. The Chennai-based franchise had a rather strange auction as they went on to pick players on the “wrong side of 30s”. As it turned out, they only had one capped Indian pace bowler.
Despite all that, MS Dhoni led his team wonderfully as CSK emerged as one of the top teams of the competition. The “older” players showed the value of experience and silenced all their critics.
They didn’t have it easy though as they faced some stiff competition from their opponents. But, as all champion sides do, CSK fought the odds to win the extremely close encounters. The slide looks at three close encounters where the Super Kings had the last laugh.
#3 MI vs CSK, Match 1
The stage was set for the grand first match of IPL 2018. The reigning champions MI were all set to take on the returning CSK. Though the match was being hosted at the Wankhede, there was enough yellow in the crowd, for one to confuse it for the Chepauk.
As most sides do in Mumbai, CSK won the toss and elected to bowl first. Handy knocks from Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Krunal Pandya took MI to 165. Watson picked up 2 for 29 in his quota of 4 overs. Bravo and Chahar too bowled well, giving away just 39 runs in the 7 overs between them.
The CSK innings never got going and the scorecard read 118-8 after 16.3 overs. Mayank Markande had spun a web around Super Kings’ batting unit with his variations. A win seemed inevitable for the home side but, there was a surprise in store.
DJ Bravo smashed 20 runs in both the 18th and 19th over of the innings but was undone by a shortish Bumrah delivery. He walked back to the dugout after scoring 68 off just 30 deliveries. Kedar Jadhav, who was taken off the field after getting badly injured, returned to the crease with 7 needed off 6.
Mustafizur Rahaman bowled three dot deliveries in a row as pressure built on Chennai. As Jadhav would later reveal, Fizz got too predictable with his length and the Pune batsman scooped the fourth delivery over short fine leg for six. With just one needed, Kedar Jadhav punched the next ball through covers to seal it for CSK.
The winning team burst into celebrations. MS Dhoni, as one would expect him to be, remained expressionless and the CSK fans were a sight to watch as they rejoiced. All in all, it was a great start to the IPL and a clear message was sent out- “CSK have arrived”.