ABU DHABI: Mahendra Singh Dhoni's astute captaincy backed by some brilliant bowling at the back end saw Chennai Super Kings restrict Mumbai Indians to 162 for 9 despite some good start by their star-studded batting line-up in the opening IPL game here on Saturday.
CSK's new recruits leg-spinner Piyush Chawla (1/21 in 4 overs) and left-arm seamer Sam Curran (1/28 in 4 overs) made fantastic first impression while Lungi Ngidi (3/38 in 4 overs) and Deepak Chahar (2/32 in 4 overs) came back brilliantly during death overs.
For Mumbai Indians, Quinton de Kock (33 off 20 balls, 5x4) and Saurabh Tiwary (42 off 31 balls, 3x4, 1x6) played well but couldn't convert their starts as the defending champions got only 76 runs in their back-10.
De Kock started in a blazing fashion as he launched straight into Chahar and Ngidi as 45 came off the first four overs.
The shrewd Dhoni then introduced Chawla into the attack and he right away dismissed Rohit Sharma (12) who always have had a problem with wrist spinners.
It was a straight delivery that Rohit trying to hit inside out couldn't get past Curran stationed at the mid-off circle.
The seamer then was back in action as he got rid of De Kock with a well dosguised off-cutter which he straight hit to Shane Watson at mid-wicket.
Suryakumar Yadav (17) and the giant Saurabh Tiwary (42 off 31 balls, 3x4, 1x6) added 44 to steady the ship but some good outfielding in the back-10 from the likes of Curran and Faf du Plessis had MI slump to 124 for 5 from 92 for two.
Tiwary as an anchor proved to be a decent choice as he hit the first six off this year's IPL off Ravindra Jadeja.
Someone who promised a lot was Hardik Pandya (14 off 10 balls) with a couple of lusty sixes off Jadeja but then Chawla bowled an ideal length to keep him quiet.
The patience went off and Jadeja reaped the reward when Hardik tried to hit a third six instead of rotating the strike and was holed out at the boundary line by Faf du Plessis.