Thanks to dominating performance by the spinners on a slow track, defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) started their title defence in style winning the opening match of Indian Premier League T-20 cricket tournament against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by seven wickets here on Saturday night.
After spinners Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja spelt doom sharing eight wickets among them (conceding 44 runs in 12 overs) after RCB was asked to bat first, the CSK batsmen, mixed caution with aggression, before romping home in the 12th edition's pipe opener by scoring 71 for three in 17.4 overs in a tense but close chase.
The target of 71 by RCB might be sixth lowest in IPL, but in fact turned out to be quite a challenging for CSK, which huffed and puffed before overcoming it to start its campaign on a winning note.
After spinners Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja spelt doom sharing eight wickets among them (conceding 44 runs in 12 overs) after RCB was asked to bat first, the CSK batsmen, mixed caution with aggression, before romping home in the 12th edition's pipe opener by scoring 71 for three in 17.4 overs in a tense but close chase.
The target of 71 by RCB might be sixth lowest in IPL, but in fact turned out to be quite a challenging for CSK, which huffed and puffed before overcoming it to start its campaign on a winning note.
