After all the build-up for this blockbuster match between these two teams, it went out to be an uneventful game to what could be the first match of IPL – 2019. As expected, Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 7 wickets.
Chennai won the toss and elected to bowl first and bowled RCB out for just 70 runs.
What happened?
Talking about first innings, Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel came out to open for RCB. Deepak Chahar started the attack from one end. The Pitch was slow and dry as per the pitch report, and as soon as the first over bowled, it appeared that to be true. RCB began slowly and cautiously. Harbhajan started from the other end and he took the wicket of Kohli in his second over with just 16 runs on the board. Then the downfall started in their batting order. Harbhajan, Jadeja, Tahir all exploit the conditions well by getting a lot of help from the pitch; thus they crushed the RCB batsman one after the other. Their poor batting display, lack of adaptability in such conditions once again proved detrimental. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals which made them suffer. Only one batsman crossed the double-digit mark in their batting which itself shows what a terrible batting performance from their so-called heavy-weight batting. No one could stand out. However, Parthiv Patel batted through the end but couldn’t do much. From Kohli to De Villiers, from Hetmyer to Moen Ali, everyone failed. Their blunders in batting again were so disappointing. Chennai Super Kings’s bowling figures were exceptional.
These were the figures:-
Harbhajan Singh – 4 overs – 20 runs with 3 wickets
Imran Tahir – 4 overs – 9 runs with 3 wickets
Ravindra Jadeja – 4 – for 15 runs with 2 wickets
In total, they gave 44 runs and took 8 wickets which thrashed their batting line-up.
Then it was going to be the easy peasy run chase for Chennai. Though RCB started pretty well by getting rid of Watson in the third over, Chennai soon got in control with the help of Rayudu and Raina. Raina reached the landmark of 5000 runs becoming the fastest player. RCB missed the trick of playing an extra spinner as Chahal was outstanding giving away just 6 runs in his four overs. But clearly, the support was missing at the other end. Therefore, Chennai comfortably achieved their target with 7 wickets in hand. However, it took more than 17 overs for them also, but it was noticeable because of the conditions out there.
Chennai will be delighted the way they performed and the total opposite for Kohli and company. They need to figure out their way now.
What’s next?
Chennai will face Delhi on 26th March and Bangalore will meet Mumbai on 28th March.
