BENGALURU: Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis’ blitzkrieg knocks helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) score 218/5 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday.
After winning the toss, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s CSK sent RCB to bat in the first inning. Virat Kohli (47 runs from 29 balls, 3 fours, and 4 sixes) and Faf du Plessis (54 runs from 39 balls, 3 fours, and 3 sixes) helped RCB get off to a great start.
CSK pacer Tushar Deshpande started the attack in the first inning and gifted only two runs. However, in the second over, CSK’s Shardul Thakur gave 16 runs as RCB batters hammered boundaries. The opening duo of Kohli and Du Plessis had a great start to the inning. But rain played spoilsport in the third over, following which RCB lost momentum in the game.
The game started again after a few minutes, but CSK bowlers kept a check on the run rate on Saturday. In the 10th over, Kohli smashed a six over the mid-wicket against Santner. But, in the next ball of the over, Kohli tried to smash the ball over the long-on, but Daryl Mitchell made no mistake to grab the ball. Kohli made 47 runs from 29 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes.
Rajat Patidar replaced Kohli on the field and tried to make a partnership with RCB skipper Du Plessis. In the 11th over, Ravindra Jadeja gave away 20 runs as Du Plessis hammered one four and six fours. Soon, Patidar (41 runs from 23 balls, 2 fours, and 4 sixes) started to set on the crease as he hammered a six in the 12th over against Theekshana.
The RCB skipper displayed stupendous skill on the crease; he hammered a 35-ball fifty in the 12th over. In the 13th over, Du Plessis was unlucky as he was runout by Santner.
Cameron Green replaced the skipper on the crease and did not make Du Plessis’ absence felt on the field. The duo of Patidar and Green played a 50-run partnership in the 17th over, and helped RCB get an upper hand in the game.
Patidar was unlucky, as he was dismissed in the 18th over by Shardul Thakur. The RCB batter tried to smash the ball over the long-on, but it landed on Mitchell’s hand. Thakur gave away 16 runs and picked up one wicket in the 18th over. In the 19th over, Dinesh Karthik (14 runs from 6 balls, 1 four and 1 six) found an edge and was taken by CSK wicketkeeper MS Dhoni.
Glenn Maxwell (16 runs from 5 balls, 2 fours, and 1 six) replaced Karthik on the crease and smashed a four after smashing it over the keeper in his first ball on the field. Maxwell had a great start in the final over and slammed a six and four in the third and fourth balls. But on the fifth ball, Thakur removed Maxwell from the crease.
In the last ball of the first inning, no runs were scored, and RCB finished at 218/5, while CSK need 219 runs to win the match. During the run chase, the Chennai-based franchise need to score 201 runs to qualify for the play-offs.
Shardul Thakur led the CSK bowling attack as he picked up two wickets in his four-over spell. While Deshpande and Santner took one wicket each in their respective spells.
Brief score: Royal Challengers Bengaluru 218/5 (Faf du Plessis 54, Virat Kohli 47, Rajat Patidar 41; Shardul Thakur 2/61) vs Chennai Super Kings. (ANI)