IPL 2020: Match 1 – MI vs CSK – Who Said What

The much-awaited opening clash of IPL 2020 between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ended up with the latter winning the game. In this match, MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to field first. MI got off to a quick start in the first innings. But they lost both their openers in quick successions resulting in a slowdown. The CSK bowlers kept bouncing back at regular intervals with important breakthroughs.

Moreover, Faf du Plessis‘ agility and acrobatics on the boundary line helped CSK get the important wickets of Hardik Pandya and Saurabh Tiwary. At one stage, these two seemed to be taking the game away from the ‘Men in Yellow’. Some brilliant efforts from CSK helped restrict MI to 162/9. Lungi Ngidi picked up three wickets while Deepak Chahar and Ravindra Jadeja accounted for two each.

Am’beauty’ Rayudu gets the first fifty of the season

The Chennai Super Kings were dealt with two big blows early on in the chase. Both Murali Vijay and Shane Watson were dismissed cheaply. Thus, the Super Kings were brought down to 6/2 just in the 2nd over of the game. However, Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis steadied the ship with a wonderful partnership. They added 115 runs together before Rayudu was dismissed in the 16th over when he tried to accelerate the scoring rate.

However, he became the first batsman to score a fifty this season and got 71 off 48 balls. After his wicket, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran were the next two to walk out into the middle. While the former mustered 10 off 5, the English all-rounder brought up an unbelievable little show scoring 18 off 6. He helped get the required run-rate under control. CSK completed the chase with 5 wickets to spare. Faf remained unbeaten on 58 off 44 balls. Both the teams seemed to be sloppy on the field.

Sam Curran said

Very different. I have been used to the bubble with the England team. But you are used to seeing big crowds in IPL, so it was different. I haven’t met a lot of the guys, came in a day before and was straight on the bus today. That was a good thing. I was very surprised that I went in. He (Dhoni) is a genius and thought something (about sending me before himself). We targeted that over (18th) and I went in with a six or out mentality… sometimes it comes off and sometimes it doesn’t.

Ambati Rayudu, the Man of the Match, 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 practised in Chennai which really helped and then in Dubai as well.

Rohit Sharma, the MI captain, said

None of our batsmen carried on for us like du Plessis and Rayudu did for CSK. I think we were 85 in the first 10 overs. Credit to the CSK bowlers, they bowled well at the end to pull back things. Something for us to learn. Still early days.

We all want to start really well, it’s crucial in this tournament where momentum is important. Few things for us to learn from this game, we did make (a) few mistakes. Hopefully we’ll rectify those and come out smarter in the next game. We are used to cheering people for us, and we knew this. This is new normal, but I hope for a while and things will get better soon. We need to adapt to the pitches, it got better with the dew coming. You need to hit the gaps and focus on that part of the game. The opposition can tie you down, it’s all about understanding what we need to do.

MS Dhoni, the CSK captain, said

It’s a very different, doesn’t feel like a post-match presentation. Overall – [liked] how we played after a very long time. You want to assess the conditions and give your best. I felt we took time to gauge how to bowl in these conditions. The MI batsmen batted well, they were able to put pressure. Overall plenty of positives, but plenty of areas to improve.

Specially with the timing, if you bat second, teams will realise it will swing till the dew comes in. These are the learnings. Overall a very good first game to play and no injuries – most of us are retired. [Experience of players] does pay off. Especially these days 300 ODIs with three-match series, it’s a big feat. You need a good mix of youngsters and experience. What really helps youngsters in the IPL is the fact that there are lots of senior players from different countries for 60-70 days.

(With) Curran – that’s one thing we haven’t done [experimenting]. At some point of time, we need to give Jadeja and somebody like Sam to express themselves. This was the ideal way – one legspinner, one left-arm spinner. We felt it was ideal to intimidate the bowler – to say he’s been sent to do one job.