Blackcaps pair Trent Boult and Adam Milne starred in a losing effort for the Mumbai Indians as the Indian Premier League resumed on Monday (NZ time).
The fast-bowling reduced Stephen Fleming's Chennai to 24/4 after six overs, but the Super Kings recovered to 156/6 which proved a winning score.
Boult dismissed Faf du Plessis for a duck in the opening over in Dubail when the former South African skipper found Milne on the third-man boundary.
Boult then had Suresh Raina caught at point for four and then Milne's double-strike had Mumbai on top.
Milne removed Moeen Ali for a duck and then had the prized scalp of MS Dhoni who was caught by Boult at deep square-leg, before forcing Ambati Rayudu to retire after the Indian batsman was struck on the arm by a 145km thunderbolt.
But opener Ruturaj Gaikwad carried his bat through the carnage, making 66 from 58 balls while West Indian international Dwayne Bravo smacked 23 from eight balls, including two sixes from Boult's final over.
Milne finished with 2/21 from four overs, while his international teammate had 2/35 with 24 runs coming from his final six balls.
The Indians struggled in reply with the only innings of note coming from Saurabh Tiwary, who was unbeaten on 50 from 40 balls as Mumbai were restricted to 136/6 from their 20 overs in a 20-run loss.
The 2021 IPL season was suspended in May because of India's worrying response to the COVID-19 pandemic as several teams' bio-secure bubbles were breached.
Milne and Boult are two of the 10 Blackcaps taking part in the UAE with four more potentially in action on Tuesday morning.
Brendon McCullum's Kolkata Knight Riders take on Royal Challengers of Bangalore with Lockie Ferguson, Tim Seifert, Tim Southee (Kolkata) and Kyle Jamieson (Bangalore) all fit to play.
