Chennai Super Kings began the season opener with a stunning 6-wicket win. A complete all-round performance helped the Yellow Army beat Bengaluru for a record 8th time at Chepauk. Mustafizur’s four-fer and a a strong partnership from Jadeja and Dube was enough for CSK to take the win.
Winning the toss, Faf du Plessis opted to bat first for the visitors. On came Virat Kohli and the Proteas batter who opened the proceedings for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. RCB got off to a strong start. It was Faf all the way. The skipper lead from the front hitting the loose balls.
RCB, especially Faf looked in cruise control as Virat remained a spectator having played only 6 balls in the entire powerplay. The skipper hammered 8 fours to reach 35 runs from just 23 balls. And then calamity struck. Ruturaj Gaikwad decided to rest Deepak Chahar who was hit for 17 runs on his last over.
On came Mustafizur Rahnman and he wreaked havoc. The Bangladeshi pacer scalped a quick four-fer to trigger a sudden batting collapse for RCB. He dispatched du Plessis and Rajat Patidar on his first over. Second over, he got the two dangermen – Virat Kohli and Cameron Green. Kohli managed to score 21 runs which was enough for him to cross 12,000 T20 runs.
Deepak Chahar struck Glenn Maxwell on a golden duck as RCB found themselves reeling at 78/5. The visitors needed a recovery partnership and they got it – courtesy – Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik. The duo stitched a 95 run partnership to help his side post a decent total on the board.
Anuj Rawat narrowly missed his fifty after being dispatched for 48. But MS Dhoni showcased his brilliance at 42 years age with a stunning run-out. At the end of 20 overs, RCB managed to rake up 173/6.
Chennai Super Kings Overpower Known Rivals
Chennai Super Kings on the other hand, began their run chase on a strong note. Newly appointed skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad slammed 3 fours to score 15 runs before being dispatched by Yash Dayal. But it was young Rachin Ravindra who continued his purple patch.
The young southpaw played a blistering cameo knock of 37 from 15 balls, hitting 3 fours and 3 sixes in the process. Karn Sharma finally dispatched Rachin. Ajinkya Rahane on the other hand, continued his hammering. The recent Ranji winning skipper managed 27 from 19 hitting 2 huge sixes.
Cameron Green came to RCB’s rescue soon. He went on to bag Rahane and Daryl Mitchell as CSK fell into a little dull. The two left handers, Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube then continued to stitch a strong partnership to take the game away. The duo stitched a 50+ run stand to help the defending champs begin their IPL 2024 campaign with a win.