Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bowl against Mumbai Indians in the opening match of the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in Cape Town on Saturday.

The toss was delayed by 12 minutes owing to drizzle in the morning and overcast conditions at the Newlands Stadium. Mumbai Indians are being led by Sachin Tendulkar.

After the toss, IPL chairman and commissioner Lalit Modi declared the tournament open.

The second edition of the IPL got underway with Manpreet Gony starting against Sanath Jayasuriya. The left hander who was explosive in the first edition got a single off the first ball to get the Mumbai innings underway. Tendulkar was then beaten all ends up by a late outswinger from Gony. Tendulkar then got underway as he drove one through to the cover region for his first single. Jayasuriya then ended the over with another single. Mumbai Indians were 3/0 after the first over.

Thilan Thushara shared the new ball with Gony. He was right on the money as he almost got Jayasuriya on his first ball. The ball came in sharply but was going down. Tendulkar then played his trade mark upper cut to add another single. Jayasuriya got the first boundary of the IPL down the third man region. He then gave the strike back to Tendulkar who finished the over with a dot ball. Mumbai were 10/0 after 2 overs.

Gony then continued and Jayasuriya scampered through for a quick one. Tendulkar then opened his arms for a boundary over the covers and then added a single on the following ball. After playing out two dot ball, Sanath Jayasuriya charged down the track to smash the ball over the point boundary for a four. Mumbai were 20/0 after 3 overs.

Andrew Flintoff then came in for his first action of the IPL and facing him was none other than Sachin Tendulkar, who got the single off the first ball. Jayasuriya then played out a dot ball and glanced the next ball to the fine leg for a boundary. He then scored a single off the next ball. Tendulkar then completely misqued one, but was dropped by Matthew Hayden at slips. He ended the over with two runs. Mumbai were 35/0 after 5 overs.

Thushara then continued and was looking the most effective of all the bowlers. Jayasuriya found it difficult to face his fellow Lankan. After edging one to the boundary he played out two dot balls. Jayasuriay then perished as he chipped one to Matthew Hayden at midwicket. The new man in was Shikhar Dhawan. Mumbai were 40/1 after 6 overs.

Joginder Sharma was then brought in the attack as Dhawan took strike. He started off with a dot ball and then edged one to the third man for a single. Tendulkar then played a solid stroke down the ground for another one. Dhawan then mistimed a slower one for yet another single. Tendulkar then ended the over with two dot balls. Mumbai were 48/1 after 8 overs.

Jacob Oram then continued in the attack as Dhawan played out a dot ball. He then added a single on the next ball to give the strike to Sachin Tendulkar. He then came back strongly after two dot balls to smash the next two ball to the fence. Mumbai were 73/1 after 11 overs.

Gony was then brought back in the attack and he was welcomed back with boundary of the first ball. Gony then bowled one way outside the off stump for a wide. Dhawan then added a single on the next ball. Tendulkar then played an elegant flick off his pads for three runs. Dhawan then tried to pull one, only to get a top edge and was taken comfortably by Dhoni at mid on. The new man in the middle was new signing JP Duminy. The batsmmen had crossed and Tendulkar scored a single off the next ball. Duminy ended the over with another single. Mumbai were 84/2 after 12 overs.

Mumbai Indians then lost two quick wickets as JP Duminy and Dwayne Bravo went in consecutive overs. First to go was Duminy who slapped one back straight to Gony who took a well judged catch.

Bravo followed him as he went for a big hit on the leg side but was hold out in the deep by Matthew Hayden. The new man in the middle was Abhishek Nayar Mumbai were 105/4 after 15 overs.

Flintoff then came back into the attack and he was welcomed back with the first six of the IPL. Nayar cleared his front leg and smashed the ball over the boundary. He followed it with a double and then smashed a full toss for the second six of the over. Nayar was on a roll as another soaring hit over the mid wicket boundary to make it three sixes in the over. Flintoff came back strongly with a yorker, which was dug out for a single. Mumbai were 148/4 after 18 overs.

Nayar was then hold out as tried to go for another big one. The new man in was Harbhajan Singh, who did smash one to the fence was run out in the same over by Jacob Oram.

In the final over Flintoff kept a grip on the scoring and also dismissed Zaheer Khan on the fifth ball. Tendulkar then finished the innings on a high as he played a glorious cover drive for a boundary. Mumbai finished on 166/7.

Lasith Malinga opened the bowling for Mumbai Indians and he got immediate results as he dismissed Parthiv Patel on the second ball of the over who edged it to Sachin Tendeulkar at first slip. The new man in was Suresh Raina, who played out three dot balls. He then skied one and but evn after a brilliant effort from Shikhar Dhawan Raina stole two runs and got the Chennai innings under way. They were 2/1 after the first over.

Zaheer Khan then came in for the second over and facing him was Matthew Hayden, who flicked one to the leg side for a single and get his inninigs moving. Raina then played out a dot ball but latched onto a lose one and placed it to the boundary. He then added another single to the total. Hayden then played his trademark pull shot to the fence and followed it with another boundary on the last ball. Chennai were 16/1 after 2 overs.

Dwayne Bravo was then brought into the attack and he was right on target as he kept the check on the scoreboard and also got the important wicket of Suresh Raina. Chennai were 18/2 after 3 overs.

After the initial slump, Hayden and Flintoff came together to get Chennai out of a fix. Hayden was the more aggressive amongst the two batsmen as he got most of his runs in boundaries. Flintoff played a supporing role and kept the scoreboard moving.

Harbhajan Singh was then introduced into the attack and the ‘Turbenator’ was right in action as he dismissed Andrew Flintoff, who got a leading edge and was caught by the bowler. Chennai were 70/3 after 10 overs.

Sanath Jayasuriya then removed danger man Matthew Hayden courtsey a splendid catch by Zaheer Khan at covers. Chennai were 91/4 after 13 overs.

He then got Jacob Oram, who after smashing one in the crowd skied the second one in the air and was neatly taken by keeper Pinal Shah. Chennai lost their fifth wicket.

Lasith Malinga then completed the formalities as Mumbai Indians defeated Chennai Super Kings by 19 runs to win the IPL opener.

Teams

Chennai Super Kings:  Hayden, Patel, Raina, Badrinath, Dhoni, Flintoff, Thushara, Oram, Joginder, Gony, Ashwin

Mumbai Indians:  Jayasuriya, Tendulkar, Dhawan, Duminy, Bravo, Nayar, PR Shah, Harbhajan, Z Khan, Malinga, Raje.