Kolkata Knight Riders defeated defending champions Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in the blockbuster season opener of the Indian Premier League (IPL). While chasing 132, Ajinkya Rahane proved his authority by hitting a brilliant 44 before skipper Shreyas Iyer scored an unbeaten 20 to sail past the finish line. Earlier, another veteran pace spearhead Umesh Yadav plucked two early wickets and put the Men in Yellow on backfoot before Varun Chakravarthy, and Andre Russell joined the party.
CSK had trouble starting their first innings as soon they were reeling at 61/5. But skipper Ravindra Jadeja (26*) held the fort from one side, while former skipper MS Dhoni (50*) rolled down the years and treated his fans with a brilliant job to resurrect Chennai's innings after early blows. The pair put up 70 to help Chennai post 131/5 in 20 overs.
For CSK, Dwayne Bravo was the standout bowler as he clinched two crucial wickets in the game. A clinical performance from KKR. Their bowlers set the platform by restricting CSK to just 131 on a good batting wicket. With this win, KKR bettered their record against CSK in the tournament's history. In the head-to-head contest, CSK has won on 17 occasions, while KKR emerged victorious only eight times. And one match between both ended in no result. However, CSK has stunned KKR in the past five encounters. Both the sides have faced each other in the finals two times in the Indian Premier League and have managed to win each on occasion.
Just like the season's opener, the second day will be a blockbuster second day of the Indian Premier League as it will be doubleheader day where Delhi Capitals will face Mumbai Indians in the first match at Brabourne Stadium. In contrast, Punjab Kings will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the day's second match at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
