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Harbhajan Singh led an inspired attack to help the Chennai Super Kings kick off the 2019 Indian Premier League season with a complete win over seven litters against the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday.
Singh and South African player Imran Tahir claimed three wickets to send the Royal Challengers for a paltry 70, which the defending champions have achieved with 14 balls to sell in Chennai.
Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who led the Super Kings to their third IPL title last year, was voted first in the 12th edition of the world's most popular Twenty20 league.
Singh, 38, earned his first breakthrough in the Super Kings after firing opposition captain Virat Kohli for six points in the fourth quarter.
Singh ran into the top-order Royal Challengers with his astute rout, getting the big wickets of Englishman Moeen Ali for nine and South Africa's AB de Villiers, also for nine.
The West Indies drummer, Shimron Hetmyer, was exhausted and the Royal Challengers' batters collapsed with spinners Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja, who took two wickets, which combined them to 17.1.
"It was a very good effort from (Harbhajan) to give us some sort of start very well capitalized by the other players," said Dhoni after the win.
Parthiv opener Patel achieved the best score with 29 and remains the only drummer to have doubled double that which was the sixth lowest total of the IPL.
Chaseing 71 to win, the Super Kings lost their first game, Shane Watson, without doing anything, after Yuzvendra Chahal managed to roll the Australian on his legs.
Ambati Rayudu, who made 28, and Suresh Raina, who scored 19, then scored 32 points for the second wicket for the pursuit to be on the right track.
The left-handed Raina became the first IPL history drummer to break the 5,000-race barrier during his stay at 21 balls. Raina (5004) beat Kohli (4954) in the IPL batting standings.
"Nobody wants to start like this, but it's good to put such a game aside at the beginning of the tournament," said Kohli, who has yet won an IPL title.
"I thought CSK played very well, they deserved to win, but I liked to see our team fight to the end."
The T20 tournament, due to end on May 12, will be almost the start of the 50-year-old World Cup in England and Wales on May 30th.
The focus is on Australian stars Steve Smith and David Warner, who make their comeback in the glitzy tournament a year after being banned for falsifying the ball.
Warner is expected to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad, led by Kane Williamson, who will face the Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.
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