IPL 2019, CSK vs RCB: 3 takeaways from the match
Chennai Super Kings defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 7 wickets in the inaugural match of IPL 2019 in Chennai. It was a one-sided match, in which CSK dominated from the beginning and RCB were never in control. CSK, the 3-time champions in IPL, made a resounding start to their campaign, and always looked in command. The match also pitted former Indian captain, MS Dhoni against Virat Kohli, the current one.
RCB won the toss and batted first. However, they were bowled out for only 70 in 17.1 overs. None of their batsmen except Parthiv Patel could reach double digits. Patel played a patient knock and made 29. For CSK, the spinners did the damage, as Imran Tahir and Harbhajan Singh took 3 wickets each. Ravindra Jadeja also chipped in with 2 wickets.
In reply, CSK never looked in trouble while chasing, as Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina made 28 and 18 respectively. They reached their target with 2.2 overs and 7 wickets to spare. Yujvendra Chahal, Moeen Ali and Siraj took a wicket apiece for RCB. Harbhajan was adjudged the man of the match for his excellent performance.
Let us have a look at 3 takeaways from the match:
#1. RCB batsmen suffered against spin-attack of CSK
The RCB batsmen struggled to cope with the lack of pace in the wicket, and some of them threw their wickets away. CSK have the best spin-attack among all the teams in the tournament, as they have Harbhajan, Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja within their ranks. Both Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers perished while trying to play ambitious shots off the bowling of Harbhajan.
Harbhajan gave the ball more air, and was rewarded with 3 wickets. Kohli stayed on his back-foot and tried to play a shot over the mid-wicket boundary off a flighted Harbhajan delivery, but could not clear the ground. That delivery was too full for him to play the shot off his back-foot. de Villiers also fell in similar fashion, and was caught by Jadeja in the long-on boundary.
Most of the other batsmen struggled to score runs off the bowling of Jadeja and Tahir. Tahir too 3 wickets while conceding only 9 runs in his stipulated 4 overs. He generated vicious turn on a slower wicket, which was hardly conducive for T20 cricket.
Jadeja also got good turn, and succeeded in containing the RCB batsmen. RCB never really recovered from the early dismissals of Kohli and de Villiers, and were bundled out for a paltry total of 70.