Steven Smith the boundary rider

Ben Hilfenhaus had misjudged a catch off Michael Lumb that seemed to circle Pluto before dipping, but that was not a true measure of his fielding ability. When Shane Watson cut the ball to the sweeper and called for the second, Hilfenhaus was called to action. His throw - flat and accurate - came in quickly to MS Dhoni in front of the stumps who managed to break them without getting his gloves in the way. Watson looked in World T20 form and Chennai Super Kings were lucky to get rid of him before he reached his half-century. Hilfenhaus had the spotlight on him again when he caught Brad Haddin, falling forward, in the deep a few overs later.

With a lot of big names in action, there were bound to be big greetings from the crowd. Sachin Tendulkar may receive the biggest cheers later on, but in the first match, those went to South Africa's Faf du Plessis, who doesn't usually get welcomed so warmly at the Wanderers. Du Plessis plays for the Titans franchise domestically, who are arch rivals of the home team, the Lions. The derbies between the two sides are fierce but the fans were able to put that aside when they saw du Plessis come on to bowl in yellow.

Australia's bowling attack will clash with South Africa's batsmen again in three weeks' time for a Test series in Australia and two players in this match provided a bit of an appetiser. Chennai's du Plessis, who is pushing for a spot in South Africa's XI in the No.6 position, played an innings about half as good as Jacques Rudolph's last night. He took a good few off a man who will appear for Australia in Perth, Pat Cummins, including three fours off his first over: a leg-stump half-volley that was dispatched, a drive through the covers and a pull after charging the young quick. Cummins won the war though. Du Plessis did not get enough on an attempted clearance of long-on and was caught by another national bowler, Mitchell Starc.

Steve Smith scored a handy 26 but is often criticised for both his batting and bowling. One thing he could not be jeered at about was his catch on the boundary. Suresh Raina was on 57 and hit out high to long-on where Smith was stationed. He caught the ball over his shoulder and some nifty footwork ensured that he remained just inside the playing area, saving six runs and dismissing Chennai's top-scorer.