The 17th editions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) kicked off on Friday with defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) outclassing Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. It was Ruturaj Gaikwad’s first game in charge as CSK captain after MS Dhoni stepped down from his role on the eve of the IPL 2024 opener. For Gaikwad, overseas stars Mustafizur Rahman and Rachin Ravindra took the charge and guided CSK to a six-wicket win.
Mustafizur registered his best-ever spell in IPL, taking 4//29 as CSK restricted RCB to 173/6 in 20 overs.
Continuing CSK’s dominance, Ravindra smashed three fours and three sixes in his 37-run knock in just 15 deliveries as the hosts raced to 71 runs in the chase inside seven overs.
However, Karn Sharma provided RCB with the breakthrough, removing Ravindra, who went down on one knee to play the slog sweep against the quicker delivery. But, he holded out to Rajat Patidar at deep backward square.
An elated Virat Kohli was caught hurling a mouthful at Ravindra after the CSK star’s onslaught came to an end. A clip of the same has gone viral on social media.
Meanwhile, Kohli struggled for his 20-ball 21 in his first competitive game in more than two months.
CSK, who have not lost to RCB at home since 2008, thus kept their enviable record intact.
Mustafizur, with his best ever IPL figures of 4/29 in four overs, was largely responsible for restricting RCB to 173 for six on a good batting track, where a 95-run sixth wicket stand off 50 balls between Anuj Rawat (48 off 25 balls) and Dinesh Karthik (38 not out off 26 balls) was the visitors’ only saving grace.
Jadeja (25 not out off 17 balls) brought his oodles of experience just when things could have got tricky in the run chase, hurrying a rusty Dube (34 off 28 balls) into completing some quick doubles to complete the chase in 18.4 overs. Dube also grew in confidence in Jadeja’s company towards the end as he finished the chase in a jiffy.
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