CHENNAI, India: Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja remained unbeaten as holders Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets in the opening match of the Indian Premier League on Friday.
Mustafizur Rahman's bowling figures of 4-29 kept Bengaluru down to 173-6, a total hosts Chennai overhauled with eight balls to spare as Dube (34) and Jadeja (25) put on 66 runs. Rachin Ravindra then impressed on his IPL debut with a power-packed 37 off 15 balls as a collective batting effort helped the home side chase down the target with eight balls to spare.
Chasing 174, CSK got off to a brisk start but lost captain Ruturaj Gaikwad in the process. Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra cracked six fours and a six in their 38-run stand before RCB's Impact Player Yash Dayal had Gaikwad caught at first slip in the fourth over. Ravindra and Rahane then carried forward the momentum and added 33 off 18 but the introduction of spin brought a wicket for RCB as Karn Sharma had Ravindra (37 off 15), caught at deep square leg after being hit for a six off the previous ball.
Daryl Mitchell got into the groove with a couple of sixes off Karn as the home side reached 92/2 at the halfway mark. Du Plessis then brought Cameron Green into the attack, and he got a wicket in the first over, having Rahane caught at deep square leg, after being hit for a six off the previous ball. Shivam Dube then walked out as CSK's Impact Player, replacing Mustafizur Rahman.
Things slowed down a bit, and the pressure got to CSK as Mitchell departed in the 13th over, trying to up the scoring as Green picked up his second wicket. With 64 needed off 45 balls, Dube and Jadeja got together, steadied the ship, kept the scoreboard ticking, and then upped the ante to chase the total down in 18.4 overs. Dube remained unbeaten on 34 off 28, while Jadeja remained not out on 25 off 17, as the duo added 66 runs off 37 balls to win the match for the hosts.
Earlier, Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Faf du Plessis won the toss and elected to bat. RCB got off to a breezy start, but CSK bounced back to pick up three wickets inside the Powerplay. Du Plessis and Virat Kohli added 41 for the opening wicket. Du Plessis was the aggressor, as he took the attack to the CSK bowlers right from the start. He started off with some brilliantly placed and timed shots before adding power to his strokes, smashing four fours off the third over bowled by Deepak Chahar.
Maheesh Theekshana brought some control, giving away just four runs in the next over. Ruturaj Gaikwad then brought on Mustafizur Rahman in the fifth over, and the move worked wonders as he provided the breakthrough, having du Plessis, who had hit eight fours, caught at deep point with Rachin Ravindra pulling off a splendid diving catch. One brought two as Mustafizur had Rajat Patidar caught behind three balls later. Chahar then changed ends, it worked as he had Glenn Maxwell caught behind and reduced RCB to 42/3 in the Powerplay.
Kohli and Cameron Green then steadied the ship with a 35-run stand, but Mustafizur came back to get the big wicket of Kohli, with Ajinkya Rahane and Ravindra pulling off a brilliant tag-team catch on the deep mid-wicket fence. Two balls later, Mustafizur castled Green to leave RCB reeling at 79/5 at the end of 12 overs. Dinesh Karthik (38* off 26) and Anuj Rawat (48 off 25) began the resurrection with a cautious approach to start off, but they pressed the accelerator button from the 15th over and smashed 83 off six overs, including 25 off the Tushar Deshpande over, where the pair hit three sixes and a four.
It was a period of sustained momentum as the duo added 95 runs from 50 balls for the sixth wicket to power RCB to 173/6. RCB introduced Yash Dayal as their Impact Player, replacing Dinesh Karthik at the end of the first innings. -- IPL
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