The IPL kicked off with big home wins for the Gujarat Titans and the Lucknow Super Giants while the Punjab Kings got past the Kolkata Knight Riders with a seven-run DLS win.
The action got underway on Friday afternoon following a star-studded Bollywood opening ceremony at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Defending champions Gujarat played a league game in front of the home fans for the very first time as the tournament returned to its original pre-covid home and away format.
Hardik Pandya’s side secured their third win in a row over MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings, beating the men in yellow by five wickets.
Ruturaj Gaikwad scored a phenomenal 92 off 50 balls for Chennai, but it would not be enough, with Shubman Gill (63) doing well before Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia struck the winning runs in the 179 run chase.
In the first game of Saturday’s double header, Punjab scored 191 in Mohali before a second innings rain interruption stalled Kolkata’s hopes of chasing it down.
The Knight Riders needed 46 in four overs, but were behind in the chase when play was abandoned.
The evening game was a bit more one-sided with KL Rahul’s Lucknow scoring 193 for the loss of six wickets in their 20 overs.
Kyle Mayers was the star with 73 off 38, and the Delhi Capitals could just not keep up when they came out to bat.
Mark Wood stole the show with the ball, taking five wickets for 14 runs in his four overs.
Delhi captain David Warner made a half century, but it was no avail as the Super Giants sealed a 50-run win in the end.
On Sunday, Rajasthan Royals face a trip to Hyderabad to take on the Sunrisers before the star-studded Mumbai Indians face Faf du Plessis’ Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Pictured above: Mark Wood
Image source: @IPL
