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The IPL 2021 action resumed on Sunday in some style with Mumbai Indians absolutely destroying the top order of Chennai Super Kings with a fiery spell of bowling in the powerplay. When MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first, it looked like a good decision considering the history at Dubai International Stadium. However, MI's captain Kieron Pollard looked quite satisfied bowling.
The reason of Pollard's satisfaction was difficult to understand at that time but the fans got all their answers, only inside 15 minutes of start of match. Surprisingly, there was a tinge of grass on the wicket and MI had the deadly Kiwi duo of Trent Boult and Adam Milne who have always enjoyed bowling on these kind of pitches. They certainly used the conditions to their advantage and CSK top-order had no answers to the havoc that was created by the pacers.
Big blow for Chennai Super Kings
Chennai found themselves on the backfoot inside first two overs, having lost the wickets of Faf du Plessis and Moeen Ali. The Yellow Army made a slight change in their batting order as Ambati Rayudu walked out to bat at No. 4 ahead of Suresh Raina, a move which did not turn out the way as CSK would have expected.
It was the 2nd over of the innings and Adam Milne was bowling an absolutely brilliant over. He was bowling at a lethal pace and the batsmen were clearly struggling while facing him. Rayudu was trying to counter-attack but Milne was in no mood to allow that.
On the last ball of the over, the right-arm pacer fired in a good length delivery but Rayudu just couldn't read it. As he tried to duck the ball, the pace of Milne completely beat him and the ball went on to hit his left elbow.
Watch the video here:
As soon as Rayudu got injured, the physio ran into the field to attend him. The right-handed batsman looked in lot of pain and was even unable to hold his bat. As it turned out, Rayudu was advised to go off the field as he was in no condition to bat. It will be intriguing to see if the 35-year-old returns to bat later in the innings.
Watch the video here: