Suresh Raina marked his return with a trademark fifty. All-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran reprised their exploits from the United Arab Emirates. And Moeen Ali made a significant contribution with the willow on his Chennai Super Kings debut.
Still, such was the onslaught by the Delhi Capitals opening combination that it chased down a target of 189 without any fuss to begin its campaign on a high. Despite an impressive batting performance, CSK’s bowlers couldn’t get their act together on a belter of a pitch at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.
The PowerPlay turned out to be the difference between the sides. DC, with a new captain in Rishabh Pant, dominated the first six overs in both the halves, which proved decisive.
After electing to field, despite missing last year’s new-ball bruisers, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, the DC pacers restricted CSK to a meagre 33 for two in the first six. Avesh Khan, preferred over veteran Ishant Sharma, justified his presence and Chris Woakes made his DC debut count as the duo got rid of openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
In the latter half, it was the DC’s opening batsmen who dominated the proceedings to virtually seal the fate of the game. While Shikhar Dhawan (85) continued his silken touch, Prithvi Shaw (72) resumed from where he left off in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
While Dhawan drove and cut with panache, Shaw displayed his change of technique by playing closer to the body, something that was exposed during the IPL and the opening Test in Australia last year.
As a result, with the left- and right-hand combination finding gaps at will with pristine strokeplay, captain M.S. Dhoni was rendered helpless. To make the matters worse, CSK didn’t support its bowlers, with substitute Mitchell Santner and Gaikwad dropping Shaw in the deep.
Even after Shaw succumbed to Dwayne Bravo’s change of pace in the 14th over, Dhawan upped the ante to ensure the game was all but over when Shardul Thakur trapped him in front of the wicket, with more than three overs remaining.
Dhawan’s classy innings thus overshadowed the effort of CSK’s left-handed quadruple with the bat. While Raina and Moeen started the onslaught by going after experienced spinners R. Ashwin and Amit Mishra, Jadeja and Sam Curran, who won the mini-battle against elder brother Tom (on debut for DC), ended the innings on a high.
In the end, it wasn’t enough.
