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Chennai Super Kings are the most consistent team of the Indian Premier League. They’ve won the title twice and have always made it to the top four. However, MS Dhoni’s team plead guilty of being slow starters. They begin on the wrong foot before suddenly overtaking other teams to make the business end of the tournament.

The custom continued in Pepsi IPL 2013 when CSK conceded a home game to the Mumbai Indians by nine runs. After the match iplt20.com caught up with one of CSK’s star all-rounders, Dwayne Bravo, who said it is a good thing for the team to peak at the right time.

Before the interview, the flamboyant West Indian asked, “Why did you choose me for the interview?” Given his contribution in the match was 4-0-44-2 with the ball, 10 runs off 17 balls and a catch! But we are sure that after reading about him talk of his on-field banter with T&T team-mate and ‘best friend’, Kieron Pollard and his innovative dance moves on the field, you’ll know exactly why.

Not a good way to get the ball rolling, is it?

It’s the first game and not a good way to start the tournament. But in a long tournament like this it’s not right to press the panic button yet. History shows that we normally start off slow and then gain momentum. It’s nice to get into the tournament. We have a few new comers in the team who’re playing for the first time. There were a few guys (Ben Laughlin, Dirk Nannes and Ankit Rajpoot) made their debuts for CSK today. 
It’s good that they got over with their first game and we’re looking forward to the coming games. We have a few things to work on and as a team we know what to do. We have a good balanced team and I’m not worried. 

CSK seemed to have formed this custom of bouncing back after a rocky start?


It’s a good thing in a way and that’s why the other teams are vary of us. Whenever they come to play against us they bring their A game because they know that when it really matters we really turn it on. We’re able to get over the line from any situation and it’s a proven fact. We’d want to win every game that we play but in a long tournament like this it’s impossible to do that.

Since two of your successful overseas players, Albie Morkel and Faf du Plessis, are missing for a while, has the responsibility on you increased on the batting front?


Yes, definitely. They’re two top players and it’s difficult to fill their shoes. Albie is one of the cleanest hitters of the ball and Faf had a fantastic season with us last year. Yes, we’re going to miss them both and this is an opportunity for me to stand up and play an even bigger role. I know I have a big part to play for CSK and I’ll try to make the most of the big opportunity.

Coming to today’s match, do you think Pollard’s catch of Dhoni changed the game against CSK?

Yes. With Mahi there, we had all chances of winning and he was just two hits away from winning the game for us. Unfortunately he hit the ball to the best fielder in the MI team (Kieron Pollard). If it was anyone else, the ball would’ve probably gone for a six. But you have to give due credit to Mahi. He came at a situation where we were really out of the game and singlehandedly brought us back into the game.

Talking of Pollard, we noticed that you love to have those mini battles against him on the field, don’t you?

We’re best friends and whenever we play against each other that extra competition is always there. We always try to get the better of each other. If you remember, the last season I dismissed him and sent him off and he had that at the back of his mind today. I knew that his innings would make a big difference in the game. In this format he’s one of the best players in the world. He won it for them today. But we will have a match in Mumbai and I look forward to settling the account there.

Do you plan to unleash a new dance move in every match this IPL season?

Everybody at CSK looks forward to me doing some kind of a jig. It’s something that I started to keep the fans happy. It’s also a part of my style; I enjoy playing the game and being part of this team. I love playing cricket here in Chennai. They’re good people and I like it that I can do things to make them happy and keep them entertained. 

 
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Mumbai Indians managed to score their first points of the season with a nine-run win over Chennai Super Kings at the MA Chidambaram Stadium late on Saturday night. After an early collapse, Kieron Pollard helped revive the MI innings to post a competitive 148 which the bowlers defended in fighting fashion against a resurgent CSK side.

Chasing a modest 149, CSK lost Murali Vijay (5) as Munaf Patel struck timber in his first over. Mitchell Johnson got MI their second success sending back Suresh Raina caught by Ricky Ponting. Michael Hussey (20) lived a charmed life after being dropped when on 1 and 9, but was finally castled by Harbhajan Singh.

At the halfway stage, CSK still required 91 runs from 60 balls and were struggling to find any sort of rhythm. Pragyan Ojha struck twice dismissing Dwayne Bravo (10) and S Badrinath (16) putting CSK on the mat. 

Ravindra Jadeja (16) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2) fell in the pursuit of quick runs needing a miracle from Dhoni (51). He almost did just that, hitting 15 runs of Pollard's 17th over to help his team inch closer to the target. However, needing 12 off the final over, the first delivery saw Dhoni attempting to hit one over the midwicket boundary, but Kieron Pollard leapt in the air and plucked off a stunning catch. CSK eventually fell nine runs short of the target.  

Earlier in the evening, the Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bat first. The move backfired as Dirk Nannes trapped Sachin Tendulkar for a duck in the very first over. IPL debutant, Ankit Rajpoot then had Ponting (6) caught at slip attempting a pull leaving the visitors at 18 for 2 in 3.2 overs. Dinesh Karthik (37) and Rohit Sharma (8) were both given an early reprieve, but Sharma failed to capitalizs on it and fell nicking Bravo to the wicket-keeper. Bravo struck again removing Karthik leg before in his next over, leaving MI stuttering at 59 for 4.

The slide continued as Ben Laughin then had Ambati Rayudu (7) caught at third man. Dwayne Smith joined the procession as he holed out off Ashwin. Pollard (57*) was the savior for MI playing a brutal innings smashing five huge sixes. Along with Harbhajan Singh (21*), Pollard helped MI put on a decent total on the board with a late flourish. Pollard ended MI's innings with a six to finish at 148 for 6 from their 20 overs.

Man-of-the-Match:  Kieron Pollard

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 148-6 in 20.0 Overs (Kieron Pollard 57*, Dwayne Bravo 2-44) beat Chennai Super Kings 139-9 in 20.0 Overs (MS Dhoni 51, Munaf Patel 3-29) by 9 runs.

 
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Royal Challengers Bangalore defended 156 in a thrilling fashion to start their season with a 2-run win. The match went down to the last ball, but Vinay Kumar's calm temperament and match awareness denied the visitors, Mumbai Indians a win, with Chris Gayle earlier starring with the bat helping RCB post 156. 

Needing 157 for victory, Sachin Tendulkar (23) and Ricky Ponting (28) laid the foundation putting on 52 runs for the first wicket before Tendulkar was run out by a sharp bit of fielding by Jaydev Unadkat. Ponting departed soon after when he was stumped by KB Arun Karthik off the bowling of Murali Kartik.

MI then began to struggle to get the ball away as the RCB bowlers stepped up the pressure. Rohit Sharma (11) went for a wild slog and lost his stump to Vinay Kumar. The game seemed to be slipping away from MI but Dinesh Karthik struck three consecutive sixes off Daniel Christian's 17th over to turn the match on its head and revive MI's hopes.

With 10 runs required in the last over, Vinay Kumar struck twice removing Karthik (who made a well composed 60) and Ambati Raydu (18) brining his team back into the game. Kieron Pollard struck a boundary of the penultimate delivery leaving himself to score four runs off the final delivery, but could manage only one, handing RCB a victory by one of the smallest of margins.

Earlier in the evening MI won the toss and put RCB in on a track that offered plenty of swing and bounce for the fast bowlers. RCB survived a few anxious moments before Mitchell Johnson got one through Dilshan (0) knocking back his off-stump. Debutant Jasprit Bumrah was given a rude welcome as Virat Kohli (23) drilled him for three boundaries through the off-side. But Bumrah came back well picking up the wickets of Kohli and Mayank Agarwal (1) in quick succession, to leave RCB reeling at 31 for 3.

Harbhajan Singh then had Christian caught and Bumrah followed it up with the dismissal of Karan Nair. Chris Gayle, as he has done so often in the past, once again played the savior innings for RCB; after a slow start, he finished with an unbeaten 92 off 58 balls, scoring 11 boundaries and 5 sixes during his stay out there.

Gayle found a suitable companion in Arun Karthik (19*) and they made 76 runs for the sixth wicket to help RCB post a more than respectable 156 for 5 in their 20 overs.

Man of the Match: Chris Gayle

Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 156-5 [Chris Gayle 92*, Jasprit Bumrah 3-32] beat Mumbai Indians 154-5 [Dinesh Karthik 60, R Vinay Kumar 3-27] by 2 runs.