IPL 2020 / Mumbai Indians have now lost their opening match in IPL for 8 straight years

New Delhi: Mumbai Indians, the habitual slow-starters, were at it again as they lost the opening match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 to arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

With Saturday’s loss, Mumbai Indians have lost their last 8 season openers in the T20 league, with the unwanted record dating back to 2013. The 4-time champions have so far featured in 8 IPL tournament-opening matches and they have lost 5 of them. This was also their 2nd loss to Chennai Super Kings in the tournament opener.

Rohit Sharma had dismissed concerns around their poor performances in the UAE in IPL 2014 but things didn’t change as MI lost their 6th successive match in the Middle East. MI suffered 5 consecutive defeats when the 1st leg of IPL was played in UAE in 2014.

“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,” Rohit said after the defeat to CSK.

With the win, MS Dhoni completed his 100th victory as CSK captain in the IPL. the 39-year-old, who returned to action for the 1st time since last year’s World Cup, becomes the 1st skipper in the history of the league to reach the 3-figure mark.

Sloppy Mumbai suffer another opening-day defeat

Things did not go Rohit Sharma’s way right from the toss as MS Dhoni called it right and opted to field. Rohit and Quinton de Kock gave the defending champions a good start but they fell in quick succession inside the powerplay to hand CSK the advantage.

Mumbai Indians helped raise quite a few eyebrows as they picked Saurabh Tiwary ahead of young Ishan Kishan. However, the left-hander, who was playing his 1st IPL match since 2017, didn’t disappoint. He top-scored with 42 from just 31 balls but did not find enough support from the wobbly MI middle-order.

Big guns Kieron Pollard and Pandya brothers failed to trouble the scorers much in the middle-order as CSK kept plugging away with regular wickets.

On the other hand, it was an all-round effort from Chennai Super Kings who gunned down a total of 163 with ease, thanks to fifties from Ambati Rayudu and Faf du Plessis after a horror start that saw them losing openers Shane Watson and Mural Vijay inside the 1st 2 overs.

Earlier in the day, Lungi Ngidi shone with 3 wickets while Ravindra Jadeja picked up 2 crucial scalped despite going for runs. The most impressive CSK bowlers were Sam Curran and Piyush - both of whom are new recruits for the Dhoni-led side.

Having sealed the early momentum, CSK will be confident when they face Rajasthan Royals in Sharjah on Tuesday. Mumbai Indians, meanwhile, will face another tough test as they take on Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi.