Mumbai

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) new-appointed skipper Ravindra Jadeja expressed disappointment after his side lost to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the season opener of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on Saturday.

Ajinkya Rahane's knock of 44 runs put Mahendra Singh Dhoni's half-century in vain as KKR claimed a six-wicket victory over CSK here at Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.

"Dew will be the vital part in this edition. If you win the toss, you will look to bowl first. The wicket was a little damp in the first 6-7 overs and then it came on nicely in the back end of the innings. We were trying to take the game deep. Everybody bowled well given the dew. Bravo bowled very well," said Jadeja in a post-match presentation.

Chasing 132, KKR openers Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer provided their team with a great start as they scored 43 runs in the powerplay. CSK finally heaved a sigh of relief when Venkatesh got caught by Dhoni on Dwayne Bravo's delivery. Nitish Rana then joined Rahane and troubled the CSK bowlers for a brief period of time and departed after scoring 21 runs, with 76 runs on the board.

Following Rana's dismissal, Rahane also perished on Mitchell Santner's delivery as he got caught by Ravindra Jadeja, leaving the team's total at 87/3 in 11.4 overs. KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer and Sam Billings came to the crease and anchored the innings. The duo took the score to 123 but before they could take their side through the victory line, Billings got dismissed by Bravo for 25 runs.

Later, Shreyas, who was then joined by Sheldon Jackson, ended the match with a boundary with 6 wickets and 9 balls remaining in hand. Earlier, Dhoni scored an unbeaten half-century to provide CSK, which was led by Jadeja, with a respectable total of 131/5, after they faced an early loss of wickets.

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CSK will now be facing Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their next clash on March 31 while KKR will be going up against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on March 30.