Three-time champions Chennai Super Kings got off the mark in the IPL 2020 points table following their five-wicket win over Mumbai Indians in the tournament opener on Saturday. CSK are on top points with a net-run rate of +0.486, while Mumbai Indians slipped to the bottom with a NRR of -0.486.
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This was the first time in six outings that CSK has beaten MI, snapping the four-time winners’ 5-0 winning streak which began in IPL 2018. Prior to this match, MI had gotten the better of their arch rivals five games in a row, including wins in all four encounters last year, including one of the qualifiers and the final. It took half-centuries from Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis to overhaul MI’s 163-run target.
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Following the win, MS Dhoni, captain of CSK said: “I kept training in the lockdown. It was a stop-start but I was really eager. When the dew came on batting became much easier. We practiced in Chennai which really helped and then in Dubai as well.”
Also Read | Highlights, CSK vs MI: CSK beat MI by 5 wickets, Rayudu, Du Plessis star with fifties
{{/usCountry}}Also Read | Highlights, CSK vs MI: CSK beat MI by 5 wickets, Rayudu, Du Plessis star with fifties
{{/usCountry}}The defeat means that this is the eighth time that Mumbai Indians have failed to win their opening match of the season. The trend began in 2013, the year they lifted their maiden IPL title, and has now stretched over the last seven years.
With four more big teams opening their campaign on Sunday and Monday respectively, the points-table is going to make for an interesting viewing. Delhi Capitals take on Kings XI Punjab in the fabled North-Indian derby, followed by Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore taking on the David Warner-led Sunrisers Hyderabad.