Ruturaj Gaikwad couldn’t have asked for a better start to his captaincy journey as Chennai Super Kings ushered in a new era with a six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL-17 opener here at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.
Handy contributions from their debutants — Mustafizur Rahman (4/29), Rachin Ravindra (37) and Daryl Mitchell (22) — helped the defending champions continue from where they had left off last season.
The way openers Ruturaj (15) and Rachin (37) started the innings, the chase of 173 looked quite comfortable. CSK raced to 50 within the Powerplay, touched the triple-digit mark in 10.3 overs and kept the momentum going even after losing their top order.
RCB allrounder Cameron Green injected life back into the game by removing Ajinkya Rahane (27 off 19) and Daryl Mitchell (22 off 18) in his consecutive overs. However, the left-handed duo of Shivam Dube (34 not out) and Ravindra Jadeja (25 not out) completed the chase with eight balls to spare.
Earlier, Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur delivered a sensational debut performance in yellow, claiming figures of 4 for 29 as CSK restricted RCB to 173 for 6 in 20 overs. The left-arm pacer might not have made it to the playing XI if Sri Lankan death over specialist Matheesha Pathirana had been fit. Fizz, as Mustafizur is known in cricketing circles, made an impactful start in his first over for CSK, having arrived in Chennai just a couple of days before the opener. For someone who had been stretchered off due to a hamstring injury during Bangladesh’s recent T20 series against Sri Lanka, it was a splendid comeback.
RCB had a brisk start with skipper Du Plessis aggressively taking on CSK’s new-ball bowlers Deepak Chahar and Tushar Deshpande. He struck a flurry of boundaries.
However, Mustafizur swiftly altered the course by dismissing Du Plessis and Rajat Patidar in the same over, leaving RCB at 41 for 2. A sharp catch at deep point by Rachin sent Du Plessis back to the pavilion, while Patidar was caught behind.
Glenn Maxwell’s dismissal for a first-ball duck, caught behind off Deepak Chahar, further dampened RCB’s innings, leaving them reeling at 42 for 3. Ajinkya Rahane’s brilliance at midwicket boundary accounted for the wicket of Virat Kohli who was going at run-aball.
Impact Player Dinesh Karthik (38 not out of 26 balls) walked in when RCB were struggling at 78 for 4 and he forged a crucial stand with Anuj Rawat (48 off 25 balls) to resurrect their innings. The duo stitched together a vital 95-run partnership (off 50 balls) for the sixth wicket. RCB’s last five overs proved fruitful, yielding 71 runs. Both employed a variety of shots including scoops and ramps.
