JOHANNESBURG, Oct 15: Defending champions Mumbai Indians started their campaign on a disappointing note, losing to Highveld Lions by eight wickets, in their opening match of the Champions League Twenty20 here on Sunday night.

The catalysts for Lions’ victory were veteran Neil McKenzie (68 not out off 41 balls) and 19-year-old Quinton de Kock (51 not out off 33) as the duo helped the side chase the target of 158 with seven balls to spare at the New Wanderers Stadium.

Mumbai posted 157-6 after being invited to bat and then failed to find an answer for former South African Test star McKenzie and de Kock’s joint assault that left them bruised and battered.

For the record, Mumbai had lost to Lions in the second edition of the event two years ago.

It could have been anybody’s game till Dhawal Kulkarni and Mumbai skipper Harbhajan Singh were taken to the cleaners in the 16th and 17th over.

While Kulkarni conceded 17 runs, Harbhajan was smashed for 16 as Lions inched towards the target.

Kulkarni’s three overs went for 37 while Harbhajan gave away 36 in his four. Slow left-armer Pragyan Ojha was knocked for 19 in his two.

Lions lost their first wicket when Ambati Rayudu pulled off a blinder at cover, holding on to Alviro Petersen’s full-blooded shot off slinging paceman Lasith Malinga.

Bringing himself on in the seventh over, Harbhajan was on the money straightaway as he got opener Ghulam Bodi to edge one to first slip where Rohit Sharma completed a good catch.

At 37-2 in the seventh over, the prospect looked gloomy for Lions. However, an unbeaten 121-run partnership for the third wicket between de Kock and Man-of-the-Match McKenzie sealed the match in Lions’ favour.

While de Kock was the more dominant of the two initially, the experienced McKenzie, who got off the mark with a reverse- paddle four off Harbhajan, too played his part before launching into a flurry of boundaries.

Earlier, Mumbai relied on useful contributions from their batsmen to reach a total, which did not prove to be enough.

Mitchell Johnson scored 30 while Rohit Sharma and Dwayne Smith fell in the 20s after getting starts. Dinesh Karthik scored a breezy nine-ball 19 towards the end.

Helping the visiting side to a great extent was the 24 extras conceded by Lions.

Summarised scores:

MUMBAI INDIANS 157-6 in 20 overs (M.G. Johnson 30, R.G. Sharma 27, D.R. Smith 27, K.D. Karthik 19 not out, S.R. Tendulkar 16; Sohail Tanvir 2-31); HIGHVELD LIONS 158-2 in 18.5 overs (N.D. McKenzie 68 not out, Q. de Kock 51 not out, G.H. Bodi 19).—Agencies