A stellar bowling performance from Mustafizur Rahman and robust batting from the top six batsmen saw defending champions, Chennai Super Kings, begin the defence of their title with a commanding six-wicket victory against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the opening game of the Indian Premier League at the MA Chadambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday.
Mustafizur sparked a remarkable collapse which saw RCB lose three wickets for a single run before recovering to a total of 173 for six after winning the toss and batting first against the five-time champions.
But New Zealander Rachin Ravindra gave the home side a flying start with a rasping 37 from just 15 balls (3x4, 3x6) and all of the top six scored at over a run-a-ball as victory was sealed at 176 for four with eight balls to spare.
Fellow Kiwi Daryl Mitchell (22) and Ajinkya Rahane (27) maintained the momentum in the middle overs leaving Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja to complete the formalities with unbeaten scores of 34 and 25 respectively from 28 and 17 balls.
Shining on #CSK Debut ✨
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 23, 2024
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Finishing touch 💪
Summing up @ChennaiIPL's opening win of the season with Shivam Dube & Debutant Rachin Ravindra 👌👌 - By @RajalArora #TATAIPL | #CSKvRCB pic.twitter.com/r65i4T0zb9
Earlier RCB captain Faf du Plessis spanked eight boundaries in a silky 35 from 23 balls to lead his team to 41 for no loss in the fifth over before they slumped to 42 for three in the space of six balls with Du Plessis departing to a fine, diving catch on the cover boundary by Ravindra.
Bangladeshi left arm seamer Mustafizur had Rajat Patidar (0) caught behind by MS Dhoni three balls later and Glenn Maxwell (0) edged his first delivery from swing bowler Deepak Chahar into veteran Dhoni’s gloves.
Virat Kohli, who remarkably faced only four balls in the first five overs of the innings, fell to a brilliant piece of fielding from Rahane who caught the ball in the deep before flicking it to Ravindra a metre before sliding into the boundary to dismiss Kohli for 21.
For his superb bowling display of 4⃣/2⃣9⃣, Mustafizur Rahman bagged the Player of the Match award as @ChennaiIPL won the #TATAIPL 2024 opener 👏 👏
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 22, 2024
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/4j6FaLF15Y #CSKvRCB pic.twitter.com/XIqaEuAM5G
Mustafizur (4-29) claimed his fourth wicket when Cameron Green (18) was bowled by a slower-ball cutter and RCB were perilously placed at 78 for five.
But Anuj Rawat and another veteran, Dinesh Karthik, added 95 for the sixth wicket to restore some equilibrium with 24-year-old Rawat belting 48 from just 25 balls (4x4, 3x6) before being run out off the final ball of the innings.
Karthik, 38, finished unbeaten on 38 from 26 balls (3x4, 2x6) before admitting between innings that the total was “probably a little below par” on an excellent batting surface.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wkt), Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Mustafizur Rahman, Tushar Deshpande
ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Faf du Plessis (captain), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik, Anuj Rawat (wkt), Karn Sharma, Alzarri Joseph, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj