From three Mumbai Indians wickets for Mukesh Choudhary, to some bizarre missed chances by Chennai Super Kings, the powerplay of the first innings in the clash of the titans at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai will go down as one of the most eventful of the Indian Premier League 2022 season.

First over

Rohit Sharma’s poor start to the season with the bat continued as she fell for a second-ball duck, finding Mitchell Santner at mid-on in what was a rather tame dismissal. And then, to make matters worse for Mumbai, Ishan Kishan completely played down the wrong line to a full delivery from Choudhary. While it looked like a terrific yorker in real time, in truth Ishan just got into a tangle to a delivery in the slot and was bamboozled by a hint of movement. On another day, he would have driven that confidently for four.

And for good measure, Suryakumar Yadav finished that over with an on-drive for four. MI 6/2 after one over.

Second over

With Mitchell Santner coming into the attack, there were not one but two rather incredible moments in the second over. First, MS Dhoni was uncharacteristically slow to react to a stumping chance with Suryakumar well down the pitch. A late deflection from the pad made things harder for sure, but Dhoni usually gobbles these chances up.

And then, a complete lack of judgement from Ravindra Jadeja of all fielders led to a dropped catch with Dewald Brevis getting a reprieve. In between all that, there was another glorious drive by Suryakumar for four. MI 14/2 after two overs.

Third over

An over that started with another four for Suryakumar, finished with Choudhary picking up his third wicket as Brevis went for a big shot to an off-pace delivery and the ball lobbed to Dhoni in almost slow motion. The South African youngster couldn’t make the most of his luck. MI 23/3 after three overs.

Fourth over

In the scheme of things, a rather uneventful over from Maheesh Theekshana, went for four singles. MI 27/3 after four overs.

Fifth over

A four and five dot balls on paper. But in reality, another over that should have really hurt Mumbai Indians instead CSK were left wondering ‘what if’ as Tilak Varma was put down by DJ Bravo at slip. Choudhary could have easily had four wickets in a dream opening spell. And eventually, that dropped catch proved costly for Chennai. MI 31/3 after five overs.

Sixth over

And to bring the rollercoaster ride in the powerplay to a close, Suryakumar hit the first six of the night with a brilliant sweep over long leg off Theekshana. MI 42/3 after six overs.

In a battle that is often dubbed as El Clasico, the not-so-classic happenings of the first few overs made for rollercoaster viewing for neutrals but perhaps also summed up why the two teams have struggled so far this season and are at the bottom of the table with one win between them in 12 matches before this one.