By Chennai Super Kings comfortably surpassed the target of 173 set by Royal Challengers Bangalore, winning by a 6-wicket margin. Mustafizur Rahman’s four-wicket haul proved decisive in the closely contested match.
RCB employed the height of Cameron Green and Alzarri Joseph to target CSK with a plethora of short balls or back-of-length deliveries on a pitch that offered little assistance to bowlers. This tactic proved effective, leading to early wickets for RCB. Ajinkya Rahane and Daryl Mitchell were both dismissed while attempting pulls to deep square leg.
CSK, however, had a strong start in the chase, with debutant Rachin Ravindra smashing a 15-ball 37, supported by Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ajinkya Rahane. RCB’s short-ball strategy managed to slow down the scoring rate, but Shivam Dube and Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 66-run stand took CSK over the line. Dube, initially uncomfortable against the short ball, found a way to counter it, guiding CSK to victory.
RCB Struggle Against Mustafizur
Dinesh Karthik, who batted on the pitch, deemed it excellent for batting. He and Anuj Rawat put on a potentially game-changing partnership of 95 off 50 balls for the sixth wicket, dragging RCB from 78/5 to a respectable total. Mustafizur Rahman’s performance was crucial for CSK, as he picked up four wickets in his first ten balls, including the key wickets of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli. Despite the efforts of Karthik and Rawat, RCB fell short in the end.
Brief Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 172/6 in 20 overs (Anuj Rawat 48, Dinesh Karthik 38) lost to Chennai Super Kings 176/4 in 18.4 overs (Rachin Ravindra 37, Shivam Dube 34; Cameron Green 2-27) by 6 wickets
