IPL Fantasy 2019: Match 1, CSK vs RCB: Fantasy Star Of The Match
Chennai Super Kings beat RCB comfortably in a dull, low-scoring one-sided affair as the RCB batsmen failed to get going since they got bundled out for 70 runs. With Parthiv Patel the only player to get to double-digits, the CSK spinners were onto the RCB batsmen right from the onset. They took the game deep and scored 71/3 in 17.4 overs.
MS Dhoni read the pitch and conditions very well and played three spinners in Jadeja, Harbhajan and Tahir and all of them fired in spin-friendly conditions. Harbhajan was the pick of the lot as he removed the dangerous Moeen Ali and AB De Villiers besides picking up the prized wicket of Virat Kohli.
CSK in reply didn't attack the RCB bowlers and preferred to play the RCB spinners out. They missed a trick in not finishing the game off earlier and boosting their net run-rate as they batted a bit too slow to chase a target of 71. Ambati Rayudu played a good knock of 28 while Raina reached 5000 runs in IPL.
The match proved to be a rather sorry affair for the fantasy managers as the usual scorers failed and batsmen hardly gathered any points as the low-owned players got more points under the belt.
Yet there were few performances which have to be praised and here is the Fantasy Star of the Match.
Fantasy Star of The Match: Harbhajan Singh
Well, it should have been Imran Tahir due to his figures of four overs, a maiden and three wickets but Harbhajan Singh's 2 catches meant that he was the highest fantasy points-scorer for the match.
Harbhajan always looked in control of his line and length and bowled well according to his field to dismiss Kohli. He turned the ball a lot and put a lot of pressure on the non-striker so that big hitters like ABD and Moeen would feel the heat and make the errors due to which they got out. He also won the 'Man of the Match' award for his great bowling figures.
And deservedly so, as he took the crucial wickets of AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Moeen Ali - which is why he is the Fantasy Star of the Match!