The Mumbai Indians produced a late fightback with the ball to see off the Kolkata Knight Riders by 10 runs in Chennai on Tuesday.
Having lost their opener against the Royal Challengers Bangalore last week, the defending champions were eager to show a response.
Batting first they found themselves in trouble early on when Proteas wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock departed for only two.
Rohit Sharma (43) and Suryakumar Yadav (56) steadied the ship but there was very little assistance from the rest of the Mumbai batsmen.
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Andre Russell was clinical with the ball for KKR, claiming career-best figures of 5-15 as Mumbai were dismissed for 152.
KKR appeared to be cruising in their chase, thanks to a 72-run opening-wicket stand by Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana. But, similar to the Mumbai innings, KKR’s middle order completely collapsed after Gill (33) and Rana (57) departed.
The Mumbai bowlers were particularly tight in the final five overs, which left KKR with 15 to get from the last six.
Trent Boult did the job for Mumbai, picking up the two crucial wickets of Russell and Pat Cummins in the final over as KKR only managed 142-7.
Rahul Chahar finished as the pick of the Mumbai Indians bowlers, however, bagging an impressive 4-27 in his spell.