Kolkata defeat holders Chennai as IPL receives underway
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The increased Indian Premier League (IPL) was given underway with Kolkata Knight Riders beating defending champions Chennai Super Kings with the aid of six wickets inside the event opener on Saturday.
Put in to bat in a rematch of 2021 final, Chennai suffered early blows and rode Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s unbeaten 50 to a beneath-par 131-five.
Twice champions Kolkata reached the target with nine balls to spare of their first healthy under Shreyas Iyer, who replaced Eoin Morgan as the captain.
It additionally marked IPL’s homecoming after the entire 2020 edition and 2d 1/2 of closing yr’s league have been performed in the United Arab Emirates even as India grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fans had been returned in the stadium, albeit at a 25% capability, but there was no run-feast watching for them on the Wankhede Stadium.
For Kolkata, Umesh Yadav started with a no-ball but soon made amends with double moves to rattle Chennai’s top order.
Former Chennai captain Dhoni and incumbent Ravindra Jadeja, who made 26 not out, arrested the slide but the four-time champions nevertheless fell properly brief of the one hundred fifty-mark.
Kolkata, in evaluation, got off to a rollicking begin with Ajinkya Rahane (44) leading their chase.
Dwayne Bravo claimed 3 wickets, celebrating the dismissals with a touch jig, and Mitchell Santner denied Rahane his fifty however Kolkata’s victory changed into by no means doubtful.
After Sam Billings (25) departed, Iyer, who made 20 now not out, stayed placed to hit the prevailing runs on his Kolkata debut.
The fifteenth edition of the world’s richest Twenty20 league is a 10-crew affair with Ahmedabad and Lucknow paying a mixed $1.7 billion to enter the competition. Read extra
The match’s maximum success group Mumbai Indians, led through India captain Rohit Sharma, will begin their bid for a 6th IPL identify against Delhi Capitals on Sunday.
