Breezy half-centuries by Devon Conway and Shivam Dube and a fine 3-45 by pacer Tushar Deshpande in a high-scoring match helped Chennai Super Kings prevail over Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight runs in a run-feast at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday.
After CSK had lost the prolific Ruturaj Gaikwad early, Conway and Ajinkya Rahane (37 off 20) repaired the innings and then Dube joined the fun as Chennai sent the RCB bowlers on a leather hunt after being asked to bat first on a good pitch that was expected to ease further with the dew set in.
Conway blasted a 43-ball 83, hitting six boundaries and six maximums as he and Dube, who smacked 52 off 27, smashed two fours and six maximums as CSK set up a big score of 226/6 in 20 overs. Conway first put on 74 runs for the second wicket with Rahane then shared an 80-run partnership with Dube.
Deshpande then got into the act after Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis had struck brilliant half-centuries as RCB raced to 140/3 in 12 overs. He claimed two wickets in that crucial period sending back the dangerous Dinesh Karthik (28 off 14) and Wayne Parnell (2).
Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis’ efforts went in vain as RCB were restricted to 218/8 in 20 overs, falling short by eight runs.
With this win, CSK moved into the third spot with six points from five matches, tied with Lucknow Super Giants, Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings with the same number of points. Rajasthan Royals lead the table with eight points from five matches.
But in the end, their efforts went in vain as Chennai Super Kings chipped in with timely wickets thanks to Deshpande and Matheesha Pathirana (2-42) and went on to win the match despite mixed efforts in the field as they dropped five catches, Theekshana putting down two, and Rahane pulling off a couple of good saves at the boundary and saving eight runs.
In all 444 runs were scored in the two innings with the batters smacking 33 sixes in all as the batters ruled over the bowlers.
Earlier, Conway started slowly but struck some brilliant shots in a superb display of power-hitting, blasting 83 off 45 deliveries while Dube smashed 52 off 27 balls, hammering five towering sixes, as CSK made superb use of a good pitch and feasted on the RCB bowling.
Despite losing the prolific Ruturaj Gaikwad (3 off 6) with only 16 runs on the board, Chennai Super Kings reached 53/1 in the Power-play, with the left-right combination of Conway and Ajinkya Rahane taking control. They went on to raise 74 runs for the second wicket partnership.
After his first few shots landed in no man’s land but failed to reach the boundary, Rahane hooked Vijaykumar Vyshak onto the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium and then lashed Wayne Parnell to extra-cover fence in the 6th over before ending the Power-play by pulling Parnell over short fine-leg for maximum followed by flicking the South African bowler to the midwicket boundary.
Just when it looked like Rahane will race to his second half-century of IPL 2023, he fell to a Hasaranga wrong’un, swinging in vain as the ball crashed into the off-stump. Rahane made 37 off 20 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes.
Conway, on the other hand, whipped Parnell to the midwicket fence and then scooped him over the fine-leg boundary for a six. The Black Caps opener rolled out the scoop for a boundary off Vyshak before launching Glenn Maxwell straight of wide long-on for a maximum. Harshal Patel was swatted away for six over the midwicket fence while Wanindu Hasaranga got the same treatment when he dropped one short outside off-stump as he completed back-to-back half-centuries.
Shivam Dube smacked Siraj for a four and a six in the 14th over and blasted Vyshak for two sixes in the next over and followed it up with a boundary off a wide yorker to claim 18 runs as CSK were cruising with 165/2 at the end of the 15th over. He ramped a short one from Harshal Patel to the third-man boundary.
However, Harshal Patel made the breakthrough for RCB when he castled Conway with a brilliant slow-dipping yorker, ending the Black Caps opener’s superb innings for 83 (off 45 balls, 6×4, 6×6). Dube completed his fifty off 25 balls with a couple of big hits against Parnell. The South African pacer had the last laugh as he cut on the pace again and had Dube (52 off 27 balls, 2×4, 5×6) caught inches away from the boundary rope at deep midwicket as Mohammed Siraj pouched a superb catch.
Moeen Ali remained not out on 19 from nine deliveries as Ambati Rayudu (14 off 6) and Ravindra Jadeja (10 off 8) helped CSK make good use of the opportunity and set RCB the biggest chase of IPL 2023, which in the end proved enough for an exciting win.
Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 226/6 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 83, Shivam Dube 52, Ajinkya Rahane 37; Wanindu Hasaranga 1-21) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 218/8 in 20 overs (Glenn Maxwell 76, Faf du Plessis 62, Dinesh Karthik 28; Tushar Deshpande 3-35, Matheesha
