IPL 2020, MI vs CSK Live Score: Shane Watson departs, Boult gets first breakthrough

James Pattinson starts the 2nd over, he will share the new-ball with Boult and Bumrah. That’s a big decision by Rohit Sharma. Bumrah might be used at the back end of the innings then.

Shane Watson has been rapped on the pads by Trent Boult and he is not convinced, but he consults his partner and decides against taking the review. He is walking back. First blow for CSK, CSK 5/1.

Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis out to bat for CSK as the 163-run chase begins. Mumbai Indians start the attack with Trent Boult. HERE WE GO!

Mumbai Indians set CSK 163-run target. Saurabh Tiwary top-scored with 42 off 31 balls. MI lost their way after he got out. CSK made a strong comeback through Ngidi, who picked up three wickets in his last two overs. Considering the size of the ground and MI’s bowling attack 162 may not be a bad total at all.

OUT! Chahar cleans up Trent Bout. MI lose their 9th wicket now. Did Chahar hurt his calf here? He is grabbing on to it. CSK would hope it’s just a cramp.

Deepak Chahar will bowl the last over. MI are at 156 for 9. How many can they get? They’ll do a good job if they can cross 160.

OUT! What a comeback this is for Lungi Ngidi. He was hit to all parts of the ground in the first two overs but in the next two he has taken three. This time he gets James Pattinson, du Plessis the man again, who has taken his third catch of the evening.

OUT! Edged and taken. What a big wicket that is for CSK. Pollard swung across the line but got an outside edge and Dhoni made no mistake behind the stumps.

Sam Curran has been brought back into the attack. Pollard holds the key now. If he gets out now, then MI won’t get more than 160.

OUT! Dhoni dives towards his left and takes a very good catch. It was a strangle down the leg side, Krunal Pandya got a tickle and Dhoni did well behind the stumps. Ngidi needed that, MI now have lost six wickets.

16 overs have been bowled in the MI vs CSK IPL 2020 opener. Kieron Pollard has just started to make his intentions clear. He hit a six off Jadeja in this over. If he carries on till the 20th over then MI can easily cross 180.

We are officially into the death overs now. 15 overs have been bowled and MI are 126 for 5 now. They did lose couple of important wickets but Pollard is there. Our prediction for MI’s first innings score will be around 175-180.

OUT! Another stunning catch from Faf du Plessis and this time it sends back the danger-man Hardik Pandya. Jadeja has got two wickets now. But he must thank du Plessis. He once again stationed himself nicely and timed his jump to perfection. boy did he make that catch look easy.

Kieron Pollard walks in to bat at No.5 for Mumbai Indians. This is a big moment in the game. Pollard can make a difference of 15-20 runs in the final total.

OUT! Ravindra Jadeja gets the big wicket. A fantastic catch by Faf du Plessis. He held his nerve and timed his jump to perfection to hold on to a very good catch at long on. Tiwary departs after playing a good hand of 42 off 31 balls.

Wickets missing! Dhoni gets a DRS wrong. Boy, we don’t see that often. Chawla in fact was the one who did not look that confident but the CSK captain went for it. The replays showed that the googly would’ve taken the ball away from the off stump. Tiwary survives.

A huge appeal from Piyush Chawla, Tiwary misses and hits his pad but the umpire shakes his head. CSK captain opts for DRS, we know what happens when Dhoni does that.

11 runs off Ngidi’s second over. He is having a torrid time tonight. His 2 overs have leaked 29 runs. MI’s Tiwary looks in absolute golden touch, what an inspired selection this has been.

Lungi Ngidi has been brought back into the attack. His first over was a disaster. He leaked 18 runs. Can he make a comeback in his second spell?

SIX, SIX! Kung fu Pandya. He doesn’t take much time to go for his shot, never ever. One over mid wicket, the next one over square-leg. Hardik Pandya has launched into an attack against Ravindra Jadeja.

Hardik Pandya walks out to bat at No.5 and Dhoni has introduced Ravindra Jadeja into the attack. This will be an interesting contest.

OUT! Deepak Chahar redeems himself in the second spell. It seemed it was a slower ball, Suryakumar Yadav did not make the best connection and he was caught in the deep by Sam Curran. Yadav goes for 17 off 16 balls.

CSK captain MS Dhoni brings Deepak Chahar back into the attack. The right-arm seamer was expensive in his first spell, let’s see how he fares in the second spell.

Brilliant over by Piyush Chawla, only 3 runs from it. The experienced leg-spinner is rising to the occasion. MI are now at 86 for 2 after 10 years. At this rate they should get over 170 but we’re gonna be a bit brave here and predict MI’s score of 180-185 considering they have Pollard and the Pandya brothers.

MI have reached to 83 for 2 after 9 overs. They have maintained a good run rate despite losing their openers in quick succession. Dhoni will now operate with spin from both ends.

SIX, FOUR - Saurabh Tiwary on fire against Ravindra Jadeja. That was the first six of IPL 2020 and it came from the big left-hander’s bat. He then followed it up with a couple and boundary.

8 runs from the Sam Curran over. A boundary was hit by Suryakumar Yadav and MI are once again looking in control.

Suryakumar Yadav did hit one boundary off Ravindra Jadeja to make it a productive over for MI. 9 runs came from it. This is an important period in the game. If MI can get a partnership then they will once again be back on top.

Avery good over from Sam Curran to end the powerplay He got the important wicket of de Kock in it and gave away only 3 runs. Some rebuilding to do for MI’s pair of Saurabh Tiwary and Suryakumar Yadav

OUT! CSK make a roaring comeback after a flying start from MI. A slower delivery from Sam Curran and de Kock mistimes it, Watson takes a simple catch.

OUT! The leg-spinner gets the breakthrough for CSK. In our pre-match analysis we did point out that it will be good move to bowl a spinner against Rohit early on. The MI captain was watching de Kock attack from the other end, he this tried to play the lofted shot off Piyush Chawla but fails to make good contact and gets out caught at mid-off. Rohit gors for 12 off 10 balls. MI 46/1 after 4.4 overs.

Three boundaries, 18 runs coming from Lungi Ngidi’ s first over. Boy Mumbai Indians are off to some start today. The seamers have been wayward for CSK. Ngidi bowled two wides in this over but MI won’t complaint. They are up and running very early in IPL 2020.

Another boundary in this over and it came from de Kock’s bat. Chahar did start well in this over but de Kock scoed six runs in the last two deliveries to once again make it a good over for MI.

Sam Curran’s first over yields 7 runs. De Kock looks in fine fine touch. He hit another boundary in this over off the left-arm seamer. MI are 19/0 after 2 overs.

After Rohit, de Kock too hit a fantastic shot to the fence. Two boundaries in the first over for MI, a perfect start for the defending champions but not so much for CSK and Chahar.

FOUR! A cracking punch off the back foot and the ball races away through the cover region for a boundary. FIrst ball and it’s four. Who said the batsmen will be rusty? Rohit looks in sublime touch straightaway. Something to think about for Chahar.

Deepak Chahar has the new ball and it will Rohit Sharma who will face it. There is a slight delay as Rohit is having some issues with the sight screen.

The Mumbai Indians openers Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock have made their way into the centre. Dhoni looks sharp as ever, leading his troops in the middle. It’s going to be cracker of a contest or so we hope so. We are minutes away from the start.

102: Rohit Sharma is 102 runs away from completing 5,000 runs in IPL. He can become the 3rd player after Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina. He is 6 sixes away from completing 200 sixes in IPL. He can become the 4th player in IPL after Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, and MS Dhoni.

100 & 50: Saurabh Tiwary is 7 fours and 5 sixes away from completing 100 fours and 50 sixes in IPL.

50: Suryakumar Yadav is 3 sixes away from completing 50 sixes in IPL.

5: Deepak Chahar is 5 wickets away from completing 100 wickets in T20s.

74: Piyush Chawla is 74 balls away from completing 5,000 balls bowled in T20s. He can become the 15th bowler to achieve this feat in T20 cricket. He will become the 2nd Indian bowler after Harbhajan Singh in this list.

5: MS Dhoni is 5 sixes away from completing 300 sixes in T20 cricket. He can become the 3rd Indian to hit these many sixes in T20s after Rohit Sharma (361) and Suresh Raina (311).

Saurabh Tiwary over Ishan Kishan? I must say that’s a real surprise and a blow to a lot of those who had picked young wicket-keeper-batsman in their fantasy teams. But the experienced Tiwary will look to make full use of this opportunity.

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Murali Vijay, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla, Lungi Ngidi

Rohit Sharma at the toss: Would’ve bowled first as well, gets better under lights. Have been here few weeks, so understand conditions better. Before coming here, we had a camp in Mumbai. Also had quality practice out here in Abu Dhabi. Key here will be to understand conditions. Pitches for the practice matches will be similar to what we’ll get here. Ready to go. Way we’ve been playing cricket for the last couple of years has been good. All in all we’ve had good preparation. Now all about execution. Four overseas - Quinton, Pollard, Pattinson, Boult. NCN still not quite match fit with some niggles. Good opportunity for Pattinson who’s been bowling well for Australia.

MS Dhoni at the toss: “Wanted to know if we can have a slip (in line with social distancing). Will bowl first. Late evening you get dew. Also to keep wicket in good condition they water it, so it tends to be tacky at the start. Have the liberty during lockdown to spend time on yourself to keep fit. Have to applaud every member of the squad. First six days in quarantine is very difficult. Felt each individual used that time well and nobody was disappointed or frustrated. The practice facilities were very good. After the first 14 days it was nice to get out. Being a gentleman’s game you don’t think about revenge (against MI). You think about the mistakes you made. Four overseas - Watto,Faf, Sam, Lungi.”

Chennai Super Kings win toss, elect to bowl against Mumbai Indians in the opening game of Indian Premier League.

There’s an even covering of grass.There is another pitch which is very different from this one, which may be used later. A carpet like ground, expect this to be a high-scoring encounter. But the wind and the big boundaries will be a factor: Kevin Pietersen and Michael Slater with the pitch report for today’s MI vs CSK clash.

The Mumbai Indians fans might not spare us if we don’t talk about Rohit Sharma after spending good 10 minutes on Dhoni. So the MI captain was actually the first to walk up to the pitch today along with coach Mahela. He will know this is a big game for his side. And it is safe to say, if the bats a large part of the 20 overs, then MI will have very good chance of wining this.

MS Dhoni is seen rolling his arms over minutes before the toss and guess what? He is bowling leg spin. While we are not suggesting that he will bowl today but who knows with Dhoni? Did that one turn? Karan seems very excited seeing Dhoni bowl leg-spin, these fans I tell you.

Even as we speak about Dhoni being the key, we are getting the first visuals of MS Dhoni ahead of today’s big-ticket clash. Footage shown by the official broadcasters show CSK captain having a chat with MI bowling coach Zaheer Khan. He has a big smile on his face, if that is any sign for his fans maybe?

For Mumbai Indians it will be Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah.

For Chennai Super Kings it has to be MS Dhoni, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja and Imran Tahir.

Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh had pulled out of IPL 2020 citing personal reasons while Harbhajan’s absence may not hurt them much as they have the likes of Imran Tahir, Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja to take care of the spin department, Raina not being there is sure to hurt their batting department. Rayudu is set to open and du Plessis might bat at 3 but after that it is Dhoni and the all-rounders.

Most of the mainstays of Mumbai’s batting department were part of IPL 2019. Among them, Hardik Pandya was the stand-out player with his average and Strike rate being the best. Pandya had scored 402 runs at an average of 44.66 and a strike rate of 191.2.

Here are some numbers that might help us get an idea of the Abu Dhabi pitch on offer for today’s CSK vs MI match. However, let’s not forget that all these matches were played some time ago.

Abu Dhabi is one of those venue where 21 matches of ICC World T20 Qualifier 2019 were played.

• Abu Dhabi hosted 4 matches of PSL 2019. Among pacers, left-armers did better; while among spinners, left-arm orthodox were the best. Notably, there was no chinaman bowler throughout that tournament at Abu Dhabi and only one right-arm off-break/orthodox — Chris Green.

• Going by the result pattern at Abu Dhabi in 2019 PSL, MI and CSK both are suited to that.

• MI had the 2nd best win%, while CSK had the 3rd best in chases during IPL 2019.

How will the Abu Dhabi pitch behave? What’s a good score? What should the captain winning the toss do? There are a lot of questions. We can’t answer all of them with certainty but Karan has got some numbers which may help get an idea. Over to you Karan.

Karan: Thanks Aritra! So here are the numbers of the matches played in Abu Dhabi in IPL 2014, when the first half of the tournament was held in UAE.

Highest Team Total: 206/4 By Kings XI Punjab Against Chennai Super Kings

Lowest Team Total: 70 By Royal Challengers Bangalore Against Rajasthan Royals

Highest Individual Score: 95 By Glenn Maxwell (Kings XI Punjab) Against Chennai Super Kings

Best Bowling Figures: 4/20 By Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders) Against Mumbai Indians

Highest Partnership: 131 By Jacques Kallis And Manish Pandey (Kolkata Knight Riders) For 2nd Wicket Against Mumbai Indians

Win Rate Batting First: 42.86% (3 Won; 4 Lost)

Don’t worry CSK fans, how can we forget your predicted XI? Can’t ever make that mistake with the most-supported franchise. So here is the Chennai Super Kings 1 Shane Watson, 2. Ambati Rayudu, 3 Faf du Plessis, 4 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 5 Kedar Jadhav, 6 Dwayne Bravo, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Shardul Thakur, 11 Imran Tahir

All the fantasy cricket league buffs out there, this might help you a lot. Here is out Predicted XI of Mumbai Indians for today’s match against Chennai Super Kings - 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Ishan Kishan, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Mitchell McClenaghan, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

MI and CSK have faced each other 28 times in the IPL. It won’t be an exaggeration to state that MI have dominated CSK - the only side to do so - if we take a look at their win ration. Rohit’s side has beaten CSK 17 times - four of those were in last year itself - while CSK have won on 11 occasions. In their last five encounters, MI have taken an unprecedented 5-0 lead registering wins in all matches of IPL 2019 and Match No 27 of IPL 2018. No other active team has a win percentage of more than 40 against CSK other than MI. (For more interesting MI vs CSK stats, click here)

First of all, it’s not happening in India and taking place in UAE. While in 2009 and 2014, the tournament did move out of the country but that was because of the general elections in India and not because of some pandemic. Secondly, there will be no crowd, no media from India (yeah let that sync in) and the players will be in a bio-secured bubble to minimize the affects of the virus. And last but not the last least, the IPL is being played in September - the first time it is being hosted so late, again blame the pandemic for it.

Aritra: Well, I won’t put my money on anyone but I do think for some weird reasons (don’t ask me what they are) that this is going to be a one-sided encounter. I know both of them have produced some of the most memorable matches of the IPL but just a hunch, it will largely be one-sided this time around.

Karan: Look, Aritra, I feel Mumbai Indians have the edge going into the match. They beat Chennai four times... FOUR TIMES last year. CSK had a nervy pre-season, and there are players who are returning to cricket after a long break. So, their backs are certainly against the wall going into this. But you know, what happens when MS Dhoni’s back is against the wall? He stuns the world and wins the contest. So, who knows, it could go either way. I would put my money on MI, but I would not be surprised if I lose the bout.

Well they don’t call it the ‘El Classico’ of IPL for no reason. These two teams have won the IPL seven times - MI a record 7 times and CSK 3 times. They have faced each other 28 times in the IPL, the most that two teams have squared off against each other in IPL. And of course, MI have Rohit Sharma, who is one of the biggest white-ball cricketers in the world and CSK have MS Dhoni, what more do you want?

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings - the tournament opener of IPL 2020. This will be a bit different considering the match is being played in Abu Dhabi, that too in front of empty stands but that doesn’t mean there will any shortage of excitement. I’m Aritra Mukherjee and with me is my colleague, Karan Prashant Saxena, we’ll be with you throughout this epic encounter.