The second phase of the Indian Premier League has started with a bang. The 35th match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has also ended in a great way where MS Dhoni-led CSK won convincingly.
However, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and opted to field first. Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal added a 111-run stand for the opening wicket. Virat Kohli scored 53 and Padikkal smashed a blitzy 50-ball 70 with 5 fours and 3 sixes as well.
But both AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell failed to do well and they put up 156 runs in their allotted 20 overs. Dwayne Bravo picked up 3 wickets whereas Shardul Thakur claimed 2 for CSK.
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ššš#RCBvCSK #WhistlePodu #Yellove š¦š pic.twitter.com/UexgwZvJsM— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) September 24, 2021
While chasing, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis provided a steady start where they added 71 runs before Ambati Rayudu scored a steady 32. Later, a few cameos from Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni, and Suresh Raina helped CSK win with 1.5 overs in hand as well.
After the win, MS Dhoni said: “We were worried about the dew and we saw that last season. They got off to a great start and after the eighth or ninth over, the pitch slowed down a bit. Jadeja’s spell was very crucial especially with the way Padikkal was batting from one end. I told Moeen that he would bowl from one end during drinks, but then I changed my mind. I decided Bravo should bowl because the more you delayed him, the more difficult it was given that he’d have to bowl four straight overs in these difficult conditions. Our players have worked hard and understood their roles and responsibilities.”
“All three grounds here are different. This one is the slowest of the lot. I felt the left-right combination here was important with the bat. We bat deep with a lot of lefties and all of them are good to bat at any position, which is why we pushed Raina and Rayudu down. Bravo is fit and executing them well. I call him my brother and we always have fights over whether he should bowl the slower ball. But now everyone knows that he has the slower ball, so I told him to bowl six different balls in an over,” the CSK captain further added.
“IPL is the toughest competition in the world” – CSK all-rounder Dwayne Bravo
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— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) September 24, 2021
Dwayne Bravo, who won the Man of the Match award, said: “IPL is the toughest competition in the world. It works on some days and on some days it doesn’t. My pride and my love for this game keeps me going. Virat was a very important wicket and RCB are a big side. I just wanted to keep it simple. As I said, preparation is the key for me. I practice in the nets, keep myself healthy and use my experience to come up in these situations. That gets the batsmen thinking about where it will go. Experience will always get us through in this franchise. The message from the coach in the dressing room is that we might not always be the quickest, but we will get the job done. We need to stay safe from the over-rate fines as well (laughs).”
Ruturaj Gaikwad, the CSK opener, who impressed everyone, said, “I was very happy when we won the last match, happy with this one as well. The opening partnership is always important, the new ball was coming onto the bat, we just had to play good cricketing shots. We complement each other well (on his partnership with Faf du Plessis), we know when to attack and which bowler to go after, that’s what is working well for us. Just try and be consistent, just contribute for the team, whatever you can do for the team, that’s important.”
Virat Kohli, after the defeat, said: “The wicket did slow down a bit. But I feel we left out 15-20 runs out there. 175 would’ve been a winning total. Didn’t bowl consistently. Didn’t show that much courage I guess with the ball. They bowled well in the back end of the innings, executed the slower balls and yorkers nicely. We spoke of areas we didn’t want them to hit and we didn’t do that. That little bit of X factor was missing in the first 5-6 overs. Got to get on that winning run again. This one is a bit more disappointing. The first one we just weren’t in the game. Have to show more courage in crunch moments. This tournament goes by quickly.”
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