Chennai Super Kings, playing its 200th IPL match, finally managed to get its first win of the season as it registered a 23-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the D.Y. Patil Stadium here on Tuesday.
After being asked to bat first, the night belonged to Shivam Dube (95 n.o., 46b, 5x4, 8x6) and Robin Uthappa (88, 50b, 4x4, 9x6), who lit up the sky with some clean hitting to power the defending champion to a massive total of 216 for four, the highest of this edition.
The duo put on a superb batting exhibition, plundering 17 sixes between them and adding 165 for the third wicket off just 74 balls. Super Kings scored a whopping 156 in the final 10 overs. Later, Sri Lankan spinner Maheesh Theekshana spun the game towards the Men in Yellow with a brilliant four-wicket haul (4/33).
Poor start
Chasing a huge total, Royal Challengers started poorly as Theekshana accounted for openers Faf du Plessis and Anuj Rawat, while Mukesh Choudhary had Virat Kohli caught at deep square-leg.
Ravindra Jadeja then castled the dangerous Glenn Maxwell with a quicker delivery to put his side in the driving seat.
RCB stayed in the game when Suyash Prabhudessai and Shahbaz Ahmed combined for 60 runs for the fifth wicket off just 33 balls but Theekshana struck once again, removing both the batters. For a while, Dinesh Karthik, with a quickfire 34 off just 14 balls, looked like he was about to steal CSK’s thunder, but was left to do a lot without support at the other end.
Good lengths
Earlier, the RCB bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood hit some good lengths and strangled CSK’s batters, giving away just 35 in the PowerPlay. While Uthappa started slowly, Dube gave the innings the boost, going after spinners Maxwell, Shahbaz and Wanindu Hasaranga and clearing the fence with ease.
Uthappa then joined the party by hitting Maxwell for three sixes over midwicket — a pull and two slog-sweeps — in the 13th over. He was unstoppable as he launched into pacer Akash Deep, hitting him for a four and a six to reach his half-century.
Dube struck two sixes off Hazlewood in the final over as CSK finished with a flourish. RCB clearly missed the services of death-bowling specialist Harshal Patel and saw its three-game winning streak snapped.
Scoreboard:
Chennai Super Kings Innings: Ruturaj Gaikwad lbw b Hazlewood 17 Robin Uthappa c Kohli b de Silva 88 Moeen Ali run out 3 Shivam Dube not out 95 Ravindra Jadeja c Anuj Rawat b de Silva 0 Mahendra Singh Dhoni not out 0
Extras: (B-4 LB-2 NB-1 W-6) 13
Total: (For 4 wickets in 20 overs) 216
Fall of wickets: 1/19 2/36 3/201 4/201
Bowling: Mohammed Siraj 4-0-37-0, Josh Hazlewood 4-0-33-1, Akash Deep 4-0-58-0, Glenn Maxwell 3-0-29-0, Shahbaz Ahmed 2-0-18-0, Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva 3-0-35-2.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Innings: Faf du Plessis c Jordan b Theekshana 8 Anuj Rawat lbw b Theekshana 12 Virat Kohli c Dube b Choudhary 1 Glenn Maxwell b Jadeja 26 Shahbaz Ahmed b Theekshana 41 Suyash Prabhudessai b Theekshana 34 Dinesh Karthik c Jadeja b Bravo 34 Wanindu Hasaranga c Jordan b Jadeja 7 Akash Deep c Rayudu b Jadeja 0 Mohammed Siraj not out 14 Josh Hazlewood not out 7
Extras: (NB-1 W-8) 9 Total: (For 9 wickets in 20 overs) 193
Fall of wickets: 1/14 2/20 3/42 4/50 5/110 6/133 7/146 8/146 9/171
Bowling: Moeen Ali 3-0-19-0, Mukesh Choudhary 3-0-40-1, Maheesh Theekshana 4-0-33-4, Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-39-3, Chris Jordan 2-0-20-0, Dwayne Bravo 4-0-42-1.
Toss: RCB.
CSK won by 23 runs.
