IPL 2019: Match 1, CSK vs RCB: Player of the match

The much-anticipated 12th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) kickstarted on Saturday at Chepauk with defending champions, Chennai Super Kings crushing Royal Challengers Bangalore by 7 wickets in the opener.

The match was a one-sided affair as Bangalore never looked like they were in the game after a terrible start to the first innings. Both the captains wanted to bowl first as the track looked quite slow, however, Dhoni had the luck on his side as the coin turned into his favour.

Bhaji turns it Chennai's way

Known for doing out of the box things and knowing how the pitch is going to play, Dhoni handled the ball to Harbhajan Singh in the very second over of the innings. He responded brilliantly, removing the dangerous Virat Kohli in his second over.

The experienced campaigner made most of the spin-friendly Chepauk wicket as he caught and bowled Moeen Ali in the next over as well. Pacer Deepak Chahar also kept it tight from the other, giving away meager 17 runs in his quota of four overs.

The Punjab-born offie kept making life hard for Bangalore batsmen. He grabbed the big wicket of AB de Villiers despite Imran Tahir dropped him a ball earlier, hence putting the opposition in complete shambles. Harbhajan finished by giving away only 20 runs while picking three scalps in his spell of four overs.

Imran Tahir later joined the party as he rattled RCB failing, finishing up with excellent figures of 4-0-9-3. Bangalore ended up scoring paltry 70 runs while losing all their ten wickets in 17.1 overs.

In reply, Virat Kohli's men also started the proceedings well with Yuzvendra Chahal removing Shane Watson for naught. However, 70 runs were never going to trouble the heavy Chennai batting line-up. The MS Dhoni-led side chased down the total with 14 balls to spare.

Harbhajan Singh, for his magical spell, surely was the player of the match.