IPL 2024: After a six-wicket loss to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League campaign opener, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Faf Du Plessis said the team was 15-20 runs short and the pitch was not as bad as they played during their first 10 overs in battling.
In the first IPL match at Chepauk Stadium, CSK began its new era under captain Ruturaj Gaikwad with a six-wicket victory over RCB.
Mustafizur Rahman, the pacer, stole the show with a four-wicket haul that destroyed the visitors’ middle order before Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik heroically came to the rescue. Despite taking some significant wickets, RCB’s chances of winning were never good enough because of their poor batting performance.
“Always when you play, you get a bit of dip after the six overs. Chennai are a very good team in the middle, they squeeze you with their spinners. Maybe we were about 15-20 runs short, the pitch was not as bad as we played in the first 10 overs,” Faf said during a post-match presentation.
He said, “They were always ahead in the chase, we tried to squeeze and get a couple of wickets, but in the end, we did not have enough runs. On this pitch, it is always better to bat first.”
However, the record was skewed towards teams that battled first last year, Faf said, adding that the ball started to grip a bit with the spinners, ANI reported.
After choosing to bat, RCB was once down to 78/5 on Friday, despite captain Faf starting the innings quickly (35 off 23 balls, including eight fours). Virat Kohli scored 21 runs in 20 balls with a six, but it was a disappointing batting performance.
Anuj Rawat scored 48 in 25 balls, including three sixes and four boundaries, while Dinesh Karthik scored 38* in 26 balls with two sixes and three fours. For CSK, Mustafizur (4/29) was the best bowler. In 20 overs, RCB scored 173/6.
Rachin Ravindra (37 in 15 balls, with three fours and three sixes) gave CSK a fast start in the 174-run chase. While the RCB took some early and significant wickets, the defending champions were led by Shivam Dube (34* in 28 balls, four boundaries and six) and Ravindra Jadeja (25* in 17 balls, with a six) to a six-wicket victory with eight balls remaining.
RCB’s best bowler was Cameron Green (2/27). ‘Player of the Match’ went to Mustafizur.
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Published: 23 Mar 2024, 07:20 AM IST