Chennai Super Kings (CSK) bounced back to winning ways after their defeat against Rajasthan Royals, with a thrilling 8-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Match 24 of TATA IPL 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
CSK got off to a flying start with attacking fifties from Devon Conway (83 off 45) and Shivam Dube (52 off 27) which powered them to a formidable total of 226/6. Despite the early loss of Ruturaj Gaikwad to Mohd. Siraj, Conway and Dube displayed aggressive batting, hitting boundaries and clearing the ropes regularly. They added 134 runs for the second wicket in just 10.3 overs, setting up a massive target for RCB.
In reply, RCB lost their captain Virat Kohli early as he dragged one onto the stumps off the Impact Player Akash Singh. Kohli tried to play a leg-side shot but got an inside edge onto the pads, and the ball rolled onto the stumps. RCB suffered another setback as Mahipal Lomror departed without adding any runs to the total, miscuing one-off Tushar Deshpande to backward point.
However, RCB counter-attacked with Glenn Maxwell (76 off 36) and Faf du Plessis (62 off 33) going on a rampage. Maxwell, in particular, was in fine form, smashing two sixes off Akash Singh in the third over and hitting boundaries at will. Du Plessis also joined the party, hitting three fours and three sixes, as RCB amassed 47 runs from three overs and reached 75/2 at the end of the Powerplay.
CSK’s Ravindra Jadeja managed to bring some calm to their bowling attack, conceding just six runs in his first over. But Maxwell continued his assault, hitting two fours and two more sixes to bring up his fifty off just 24 balls. Du Plessis also reached his fifty off 23 balls as RCB reached 121/2 at the end of 10 overs.
CSK, however, managed to break the dangerous partnership as Maheesh Theekshana dismissed Maxwell with a well-disguised slower ball that was caught by MS Dhoni. Moeen Ali then struck back to dismiss Du Plessis after being hit for two sixes in the over, with Dhoni taking another catch. The equation came down to 68 runs needed off 6 overs.
Dinesh Karthik took over the charge for RCB and played some aggressive shots, hitting three fours and a six. But CSK’s Deshpande managed to get rid of him after he was dropped by Ruturaj Gaikwad, with Maheesh Theekshana taking the catch this time. RCB then sent Suyash Prabhudessai as their Impact Player, replacing Siraj.
With 35 runs needed off 18 balls, Matheesha Pathirana struck for CSK, dismissing Shahbaz for just 12 runs off 10 balls. Pathirana bowled an excellent over, giving away just four runs, bringing the equation to 31 runs needed off 12 balls.
The pressure kept mounting as Deshpande dismissed Wayne Parnell and bowled a wide in the first ball of the penultimate over, but Prabhudessai smashed a six and took a couple off the next ball. However, Deshpande then dismissed Karthik, who had returned after being dropped earlier, for 28 runs off just 14 balls.
With 19 runs needed off the last over, Pathirana gave away just two singles off the first two balls. However, the batsman, Prabhudessai, then played an extraordinary shot, known as a reverse scoop, over the third-man boundary for a six, reducing the target to 11 runs off three balls.
Pathirana, determined to defend the remaining runs, bowled a perfect yorker that the batsman could not hit, resulting in a dot ball. With 11 runs still needed off two balls, Pathirana executed another brilliant slower ball, which Prabhudessai managed to hit for a couple to long on, bringing the equation down to 9 runs off the last ball.
In a high-pressure situation, Pathirana delivered yet another slower ball, and Prabhudessai, who had been batting aggressively, tried to clear the boundary at deep mid-wicket. However, he was caught by a fielder, resulting in a wicket, and the batting team fell short by 8 runs.
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