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Champions Chennai Super Kings made a winning start to their IPL 2024 campaign as they outclassed Royal Challengers Bengaluru by six wickets in the tournament opener in Chennai on Friday, March 22, 2024.
CSK, under new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, were clinical with both bat and ball as they laid down the marker right at the start with some decisive knocks from Shivam Dube and Rachin Ravindra.
RCB will be disappointed that despite boasting world class batters in their line-up they were unable to post a total enough to challenge CSK.
A look at the best batters of the match:
Shivam Dube
Dube's career turned around after he joined CSK ahead of IPL 2022. Last season, he starred with some impactful knocks to play a role in CSK's title triumphm finishing with 418 runs in 16 games at a strike rate of 158.
This season, the left-hander has started off the right note with a decisive 34 not out from 28 balls to guide CSK to victory in a pressure run chase.
At 110/4 in the 13th over, RCB were still in the hunt with CSK needing a solid partnership to keep themselves on course.
Dube initially struggled against RCB's short ball tactics as he managed just seven from 13 balls faced.
The match was still up for grabs for both teams with CSK needing 46 from the last five overs.
Dube then took centrestage as he finally got going with a boundary off Cameron Green pulling the pacer for a boundary and then got another four off Alzarri Joseph in the next over.
He hit Mohammed Siraj for two boundaries in the 18th over to all but seal the deal for CSK.
Dube finished unbeaten on 34 from 28 balls, as his 66-run partnership from 37 balls with Ravindra Jadeja carried CSK to their eight consecutive victory against RCB at their home ground -- M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chepauk, Chennai.
Jadeja did well to keep the singles coming as he left Dube do the attacking at the other end. He kept his composure in the final overs, to finish unbeaten on 25 from 17 balls.
Rachin Ravindra
After an impressive World Cup, New Zealand batting star Rachin Ravindra began his IPL journey on a cracking note.
Opening CSK's chase alongside newly-appointed skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rachin put the pressure on RCB early on. The opening pair added 38 off 24, with Rachin contributing 22 off 9 for the opening stand.
Scoring at a sizzling rate of 246.66, Rachin struck a quick fire 15-ball 37 before Karn Sharma brought an end to his debut knock.
Ravindra's knock was peppered with three boundaries and three maximums as he made a bright start to his IPL career.
Anuj Rawat
With RCB reeling at 78/5 in 11.4 overs, Anuj Rawat, coming in at No. 6 led the visitors' fightback.
Rawat and veteran Dinesh Karthik added 95 off 50 for the sixth wicket partnership to power RCB to a respectable total.
After a flurry of wickets in the middle, Rawat got off to a cautious start. He took his foot off the pedal against pacer Tushar Deshpande, smashing him for 25 runs, including three sixes and a four in the 18th over to change the course of RCB's innings.
Rawat, who was run out by Mahendra Singh Dhoni on the final ball, top-scored for RCB with a 25-ball 48 knock.
Scoring at a rate of 192, Rawat hammered four boundaries and three sixes to emerge as RCB's unlikely batting star of the match.
Dinesh Karthik
Playing his final IPL season, DK showed he still has some fire left in his belly.
The 38 year old joined forces with the young Rawat to turn around RCB's innings after a collapse left them struggling on 78/5 in the 12th over.
While Rawat played a quick fire knock, the experienced Karthik was happy to support him from the other end with an unbeaten 26-ball 38, with two sixes along with three boundaries.
Faf du Plessis
RCB'S skippertook charge as he went after the CSK bowlers early to make most of the fielding restrictions in the Powerplay.
Faf got off the mark in confident fashion with a handsome cover drive off Deepak Chahar in the first over of the match.
He hit Tushar Deshpande for two boundaries in the second over before taking Chahar to the cleaners with four boundaries in the third over.
Virat Kohli was supposed to be the centre of attraction in his first game in nearly two months but Faf stole the show with a flurry of boundaries in the early overs.
Kohli was content to play second fiddle as he had scored just three from four balls in the first wicket partnership of 41 from 27 balls.
Faf would have been disappointed not to have carried on to play a big knock as he departed after an entertaining 35 from 23, with eight fours. His wicket helped CSK seize back the initiative as RCB lost three wickets for one run in the last 10 balls of the Powerplay.
CSK vs RCB: Who Played The Best Knock?
Photographs: BCCI