IPL 2024 | Mustafizur heroics propel CSK to clinical dismantling of RCB in season opener
Chennai Super Kings hardly broke sweat in the curtain raiser at Chepauk to chase down 174 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. A stellar stand between Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik helped RCB contend with Mustafizur Rahman's four scalps but all-around contributions ensured a comfortable CSK win.
The ever-fluent Faf du Plessis got IPL 17 off to a flying start with a flurry of boundaries, sending the ball to the fence seven times within the first five overs to race past 30.Ā Ruturaj Gaikwad, in his first major move as captain, responded by bringing Mustafizur Rahman into the attack and the Tiger instantly delivered by dispatching both the Proteas and Rajat Patidar in the space of four balls. Deepak Chahar added to the misery with Glenn Maxwell's scalp in the ensuing over to leaveĀ Bengaluru reeling at 42/3 at the end of the powerplay. New arrival Cameron Green and veteran Virat Kohli attempted to steady the ship thereon with a sedate 33-run stand at less than run-a-ball but just when they seemed set to switch gears, the Fizz returned and got rid of the duo in the 12th over. The two last recognized batters for RCB, Dinesh Karthik and Anuj Rawat, consequently took their time to get in on the sticky track and finallyĀ broke the shackles in the 15th over. Rawat ended a 28-ball boundary-less spell by flaying two boundaries off Chahar before striking three maximums off Tushar Deshpande in the 18th over, en route to a 95-run stand off just 50 deliveries to take RCB to a competitive 173/6.
Ruturaj set the tone for the chase with a boundary of the first ball and debutant Rachin Ravindra took the cue to go on a spree of his own. The duo had already aggregated 38 runs together when the skipper departed on the last ball of the fourth over and his Kiwi partnerĀ holed out three overs later to Karn Sharma for a gung-ho 15-ball 37, with the score reading 71/2. Ajinkya Rahane showed flashes of last year's brilliance with two maximums in his 19-ball 27 and the squad's latest entrant Daryl Mitchell reciprocated withĀ a couple ofĀ strikes of his own. However, the pairĀ returned to the dugoutĀ inĀ the space of two overs, with theĀ YellowĀ Army still needing 64 off 45 balls. Shivam Dube and Jadeja ensuredĀ it was a cakewalk thereon as they composedly took the team home withĀ eightĀ balls and six wickets to spare.
Kohli giving send off to young Rachin Ravindra who literally played better than him. What a shameless guy#CSKvsRCBĀ pic.twitter.com/dyEuvr2anL
ā ā” (@iam_aleeraza)Ā March 22, 2024
That looks bad tho!
Kohli giving send off to young Rachin Ravindra who literally played better than him. What a shameless guy#CSKvRCBĀ #TATAIPL2024Ā #RCBvsCSKĀ pic.twitter.com/DM4iP8sqes
ā īØDaddy š®š³ (@papa_b0lte_)Ā March 22, 2024
Not really!!
Kohli giving a send off to young Rachin Ravindra who literally played better than him. What a shameful guy šš
ā Rolexshetty45 (@Rolexshetty45)Ā March 22, 2024
#RCBvsCSK
pic.twitter.com/zpFJvEkT9H
Don't see it for Rachin!
Kohli's displaying unsportsmanlike behavior by giving a send-off to a younger player who outperformed him in this match.Ā #ViratKohliĀ #CSKvsRCBĀ #Unsportsmanlike"#CSKvsRCBĀ pic.twitter.com/np7PL23Fj5
ā šššš šš ššššš š (@IamKingSolangi)Ā March 22, 2024
Brilliant win!
Csk start their campaign with the winš#CSKvsRCB
ā Arbaaz_Shaikh_ (@arbazshaikh_45)Ā March 22, 2024
CSK never fails!
@Miss__upadhyay_Ā
ā šŃ ą¤°ą¤¾ą¤ ą„ą¤”ą¤¼ š¹ (@mr_rathoreji)Ā March 22, 2024
Congratulations š
CSK win šš#CSKĀ š
RCB bring RCB here!
RCB lost to CSK at chepauk for 16 years
ā Taurus (@itz_chillax)Ā March 22, 2024
~ alapara kelapurom tha paru da š„Ā pic.twitter.com/0ioY6Jtn65
Ohhhhh!!! So???
2019 me bhi pehla match CSK and RCB ka tha
ā sourav (@Purplepatch22)Ā March 22, 2024
RCB lost as wellĀ pic.twitter.com/pdnoYHAQnv
RCB fans just keep waiting for happiness!
Yeah delay their win if you can't win it... So that there isn't much damage to NRR...Ā
ā ą²µą²æą²ą³ą²°ą²®ą³ ą²Ŗą³ą²°ą²ą³ | Vikram Prabhu (@TheLostIndian18)Ā March 22, 2024
Karma, have to think of NRR from match 1 ššš
RCB fans avasthe yaarigu beda maareĀ #RCBvsCSK
Damn it!
a tortoise and a rabbit had a race,
ā Yash (@thejaadu)Ā March 22, 2024
the tortoise won, RCB lost in chepauk once again.