Defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, Chennai Super Kings ushered into a new era under Ruturaj Gaikwad’s captaincy with a six-wicket triumph over Royal Challengers Bengaluru, in the first match of IPL 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Restricting Bengaluru to a total of 173/6, Chennai chased the target down in 18.4 overs, at the expense of only four wickets.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, Bengaluru had a flying start, with the onslaught being orchestrated by their skipper Faf du Plessis. Alongside Virat Kohli, who was playing his first match since January, the South African veteran built a 41-run opening stand.
However, the match turned on its head in the fifth over, when Mustafizur Rahman dismissed both du Plessis, and then Rajat Patidar, on his maiden over in CSK colours. In the next over, Deepak Chahar dismissed Glenn Maxwell on a golden duck.
A 35-run fourth-wicket stand between Virat Kohli and Cameron Green followed, but they were both dismissed in the same over, with Mustafizur working his magic again.
At 78/5, it seemed Bangalore would struggle to get to the 140-run mark, but they ended up scoring 173, courtesy of rescue acts from Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik. The Southpaw scored 48 runs in 25 deliveries, whilst the veteran remained unbeaten on a 26-ball 38.
Dube, Jadeja Take CSK Home After Ravindra's Impressive Debut
In the chase, Chennai had an even better start, scoring 38 runs in the first four overs before Ruturaj Gaikwad lost his wicket to Yash Dayal. It did not deter debutant Rachin Ravindra from playing the audacious shots though, as the young Kiwi scored 37 runs in merely 15 deliveries.
Ravindra was dismissed by Karn Sharma in the seventh over, whilst Ajinkya Rahane and Daryl Mitchell lost their wickets in the span of 13 deliveries. At that stage, with the score reading 110/4, the game was hanging in balance.
The scales were tipped in favour of the hosts when Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja constructed a match-winning fifth-wicket partnership. The former scored a 28-ball 34, whilst the latter added 25 runs to the team’s cause, in only 17 deliveries.
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