Abu Dhabi: Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s astute captaincy was backed up by some brilliant bowling at the back end as Chennai Super Kings restricted Mumbai Indians to 162 for nine in the opening IPL game here on Saturday.
CSK’s new recruits — leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (1/21 in 4 overs) and left-arm seamer Sam Curran (1/28 in 4 overs) — made a fantastic first impression while Lungi Ngidi (3/38 in 4 overs) and Deepak Chahar (2/32 in 4 overs) came back brilliantly at the death overs.
For Mumbai Indians, Quinton de Kock (33 off 20 balls, 5×4) and Saurabh Tiwary (42 off 31 balls, 3×4, 1×6) played well, but couldn’t convert their starts as the defending champions got only 76 runs in their back-10.
De Kock started in a blazing fashion and launched straight into Chahar and Ngidi as 45 came off the first four overs.
The shrewd Dhoni then introduced Chawla into the attack and he right away dismissed…