Sachin Tendulkar with his captaincy knock of 59 along with youngster Abhishek Nayar's blazing 34 guided Mumbai Indians to a 19-run win over Chennai Super Kings in the first encounter of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 in South Africa.
Despite losing the toss, the Indians started their run in IPL second season with a convincing 19-run win over last year's finalists Chennai Super Kings.
Chasing a target of 166 to win, Super Kings made 146 for seven after Matthew Hayden top scored with 44 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni made 36. Unlike the first edition, the opening match gave enough sign that there might be many more low scoring matches.
Earlier, batting first on an uneven bouncy track, the Mumbai Indians managed to post a total of 165. Though Sachin remained not out in his 49-ball knock of 59, there was no such swiftness in Indians' batting until Nayar came to the crease.
Nayar contributed valuable 35 off just 14 balls with the help of three sixes and two boundaries. Up the order, opener Sanath Jayasuriya (26 off 20), Shikhar Dhawan (22 off 21) were other key performers.
Among the bowlers for Mumbai Indians, both the Sri Lankan players: Lasith Malinga 3/15 and Jayasuriya 2/34 didn't allow Dhoni's batsmen to match the asking rate by taking wickets at crucial intervals.
Brief Score
Mumbai Indians: 165/7 (20-over)
Jayasuriya 26, Sachin Tendulkar 59, Shikhar Dhawan 22, Abhishek Nayar 34
Fall of wickets1-39 (Jayasuriya, 5.5 ov), 2-82 (Dhawan, 11.4 ov), 3-95 (Duminy, 13.3 ov), 4-102 (Bravo, 14.3 ov), 5-148 (Nayar, 18.1 ov), 6-157 (Harbhajan Singh, 18.6 ov), 7-161 (Khan, 19.5 ov)
Chennai Super Kings: 146/7 (20-over)
Mathew Hayden 44, Andrew Flintoff 24, MS Dhoni 36
Fall of wickets1-0 (Patel, 0.2 ov), 2-18 (Raina, 2.5 ov), 3-70 (Flintoff, 9.5 ov), 4-89 (Hayden, 12.4 ov), 5-101 (Oram, 14.3 ov), 6-109 (Badrinath, 15.3 ov), 7-144 (Dhoni, 19.4 ov)
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