MUMBAI: Dwayne Bravo hit a blazing 68 to help Chennai Super Kings pull off a thrilling chase and open the 2018 Indian Premier League season with a one-wicket win over Mumbai Indians on Saturday.
After a glitzy opening ceremony in the Bollywood capital, it was Bravo who set the stage on fire with his 30-ball blitz that allowed Super Kings chase down 166 with a ball to spare.
West Indies’ Bravo was out on the last ball of the penultimate over and it was Kedar Jadhav who sealed the game for Super Kings with a six and a four against Mustafizur Rahman.
Jadhav, who suffered a thigh strain in the middle of his innings and will be out of action for a few weeks, hit 24 off 22 deliveries for Super Kings who are returning to the cash-rich Twenty20 tournament after an illegal gambling ban.
“CSK-MI is one game that people wait to watch. We’re coming back after two years, that’s also the reason that people are eager to watch us in action,” Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni said after the win.
“The way Bravo batted, it was really good to see him take the responsibility.”
Paceman Hardik Pandya and debutant leg-spinner Mayank Markande claimed three wickets each to hurt the Super Kings’ chase but Bravo had other ideas.
The big-hitting West Indian hit three fours and seven sixes after coming in to bat in the 13th over of the innings with his side struggling at 75-5.
Bravo took away 20 runs off the 18th over from New Zealand paceman Mitchell McClenaghan to set up an exciting finish as Super Kings needed 27 off 12 deliveries and Jadhav finished it off in style.
Markande, 20, returned impressive figures of 3-23 including the prized scalp of Dhoni for five.
Hardik, who twisted his ankle while batting in the first innings, returned with the ball to get Australia’s Shane Watson, for 16, and Suresh Raina, for four, in his opening burst.
Earlier Krunal Pandya, who was the costliest uncapped buy in IPL auction at $1.38 million, hit a 22-ball 41 during his unbeaten 52-run stand with brother Hardik (22) as Mumbai posted 165-4 after being put into bat first.
Suryakumar Yadav top-scored with 43 but it was Krunal’s late blitz that included five fours and two sixes and got Mumbai a crucial 48 runs in the last five overs.
Watson claimed two wickets including skipper and opening batsman Rohit Sharma for 15 with his medium-pace bowling.
“Not feeling good at the moment. We have to give the credit to Bravo. We tried to get the yorker but we couldn’t get it. We need to improve our execution,” said Sharma.
“We were in the game till the 17th over. Anyway, good learning for all of us. With the dew coming, it was difficult for the bowlers. We felt we were 10-15 runs short.”
Coming on the heels of the Australian ball-tampering scandal, the world’s most popular T20 league is keen to avoid any controversy in the 51 days of the league where 60 matches will be played across nine venues.
With $8 million in prizes at stake — including $4 million for the winning team — the final takes place on May 27 in Mumbai.
Indian Premier League kicks off with a Dwayne Bravo-inspired win for Chennai over Mumbai
Indian Premier League kicks off with a Dwayne Bravo-inspired win for Chennai over Mumbai
- West Indian hits 68 off 30 balls
- Mumbai skipper Sharma felt his side were '10-15 runs short'
Real Madrid handed shock home loss as Celta Vigo spring surprise
- Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins
MADRID: Real Madrid suffered a shock 2-0 loss and finished with nine men against Celta Vigo in LaLiga on Sunday after Williot Swedberg scored an audacious goal with his heel and a second in stoppage time to leave the hosts four points off leaders Barcelona.
Swedish substitute Swedberg cleverly diverted a cross from Bryan Zaragoza past Thibaut Courtois in the 53rd minute to put Celta ahead and had an easy finish three minutes into added time, going around the goalkeeper to wrap up the points.
Real’s cause was not helped by the 64th minute dismissal of Fran Garcia, who picked up two yellow cards in 60 seconds, but they laid siege to the visitors’ goal for the last 20 minutes as Celta went into a defensive shell to hold onto their advantage.
Real defender Alvaro Carreras was also dismissed for two cautions, his second coming in stoppage time at the end of the game as the home side’s frustrations boiled over.
It was a second clean sheet in 15 league games this season for Celta, whose keeper Ionut Radu made a first-half save from Jude Bellingham’s header and stopped a second-half free-kick whipped in by Kylian Mbappe.
Real stay on 36 points from 16 games as Celta celebrated a first win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in 19 years, leaving the Galician club with 19 points.
“With the team they have and their quality, it’s difficult to match them, but we read the game well,” said Celta striker Borja Iglesias. “We had possession, we played in their half, we played a fantastic match.”
Celta jumped from 14th to 10th while the defeat ended Real’s 100 percent home league record this season after six successive wins.
Xabi Alonso’s stuttering Real team have now won only one of their last five league games as they await the midweek arrival of Manchester City in the Champions League.
Earlier on Sunday, Espanyol moved up to fifth as Roberto Fernandez’s first half penalty handed them a 1-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano as both sides finished with 10 men.
Elche’s Rafa Mir scored twice as they ran out 3-0 home winners over struggling Girona, while hosts Valencia and Sevilla remained in the bottom half of the table after a 1-1 draw.
