• Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in the first game of IPL 2022.

  • Ajinkya Rahane played a match-winning knock of 44 runs.

Twitter reactions: Kolkata Knight Riders pip Chennai Super Kings in the opening game of IPL 2022
KKR beat CSK in IPL 2022 (Image Source: Twitter)

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) comprehensively in the opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on Saturday.

Chasing the paltry target of 132, the Knight Riders started pretty well, with Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane surviving the powerplay overs quite successfully. The duo added 41 runs for the opening wicket before Dwayne Bravo drew the first blood by removing Venkatesh for 16 runs.

Rahane, however, continued scoring runs and went on to form another crucial stand of 33 runs for the second wicket with Nitish Rana before Bravo yet again derailed the run-flow by getting rid of Rana (21) in the 10th over. But, soon, Rahane lost his concentration and got dismissed for a well made 44 runs by Mitchell Santner.

But due to the low total, the Super Kings couldn’t put enough pressure as the Knight Riders eventually won the match by six wickets.

Earlier, MS Dhoni turned the clock back at the Wankhede Stadium after he smashed eight boundaries, including a six on his way to a half-century off just 38 deliveries. The former CSK skipper came in to bat when his team was struggling at 61/5 in 10.5 overs.

Dhoni (50 no) and captain Ravindra Jadeja (26 no) played watchfully to ensure the KKR bowlers did not capitalise further. The pair went on to add unbeaten 70 runs for the sixth wicket to take the Super Kings to a decent total of 131/5 in their allotted 20 overs.

Apart from Dhoni and Jadeja, Robin Uthappa chipped in with a crucial 21-ball 28 before Varun Chakravarthy dismissed him. Pacer Umesh Yadav picked up a couple of wickets while conceding 20 runs in his quota of 4 overs. Mystery spinner Sunil Narine was the least expensive bowler, giving away only 15 runs in 4 overs.

Here is how Twitter reacted:

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