IPL-2018: CSK opt to field against KKR

Amidst strong protests against holding the IPL match on the issue of Cauvery waters issue, the outing between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Kolkata Knight Riders began on Tuesday night amidst unprecedented security for a sport event.

After a lot of traffic restrictions around the stadium and the arrival of the teams accompanied by tight security, the toss for the game was taken at 7.43 pm, a delay of 13 minutes.

CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and elected to field against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Indian Premier League game marred by Cauvery protests here on Tuesday.

Life in several parts of the city was thrown out of gear after many Tamil outfits staged protests against the holding of IPL matches in Chepauk stadium to demand a Cauvery Management Board from the Centre.

CSK, who rode on Dwayne Bravo's whirlwind 30-ball 68 to beat Mumbai Indians dramatically by one wicket, are playing at home after serving a two-ban after the spot-fixing scandal which rocked the cash-rich tournament in 2013.

KKR, meanwhile, registered a comfortable four-wicket victory against Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their opening game at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

Led by their new captain Dinesh Karthik, the visitors have a fresh look to their team after the IPL auctions.

Teams:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Vinay Kumar, Piyush Chawla, Tom Curran, Kuldeep Yadav

Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Billings, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur

--IANS

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