IPL 2024 | Mustafizur heroics propel CSK to clinical dismantling of RCB in season opener

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. 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 leave 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 finally 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 partner 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 with a couple of strikes of his own. However, the pair returned to the dugout in the space of two overs, with the Yellow Army still needing 64 off 45 balls. Shivam Dube and Jadeja ensured it was a cakewalk thereon as they composedly took the team home with eight balls and six wickets to spare.

Kohli giving send off to young Rachin Ravindra who literally played better than him. What a shameless guy#CSKvsRCB pic.twitter.com/dyEuvr2anL

— ♡ (@iam_aleeraza) March 22, 2024

Not really!!

Kohli's displaying unsportsmanlike behavior by giving a send-off to a younger player who outperformed him in this match. #ViratKohli #CSKvsRCB #Unsportsmanlike"#CSKvsRCB pic.twitter.com/np7PL23Fj5

— 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕊𝕠𝕝𝕒𝕟𝕘𝕚 𝕏 (@IamKingSolangi) March 22, 2024

CSK never fails!

RCB lost to CSK at chepauk for 16 years



~ alapara kelapurom tha paru da 🔥 pic.twitter.com/0ioY6Jtn65

— Taurus (@itz_chillax) March 22, 2024

RCB fans just keep waiting for happiness!

a tortoise and a rabbit had a race,

the tortoise won, RCB lost in chepauk once again.

— Yash (@thejaadu) March 22, 2024