RCB vs CSK, Last Match Scorecard: Highlights and Results
Two teams with huge fan bases, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), will go up against each other in Match 24 of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. The highly anticipated encounter will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday, April 17.
Currently sixth in the points table, Chennai have won two of their first four games. They faced their second defeat of the season in their last outing against the Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Batting first after losing the toss, RR put up a competitive 175/8 on the board. While Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer and Ravichandran Ashwin chipped in with vital 30s, Jos Buttler once again top-scored for RR with his 36-ball 52.
For CSK, Ravindra Jadeja stood out with bowling figures of 2/21.
Chasing 176, CSK lost Ruturaj Gaikwad in the third over. Devon Conway (50) and Ajinkya Rahane (31) then added 68 for the second wicket.
However, Rahane's dismissal in the tenth over led to a batting collapse for CSK, where they lost their next five wickets just inside 35 more runs.
At 113/6 after 15 overs, RR looked to be in firm command. Jadeja and MS Dhoni gave them a scare, scoring 50 runs in the last three overs. However, it wasn't enough as Sandeep Sharma held his nerve and did not concede the required 21 runs off the last over.
RR went on to win the tightly contested match by a slim margin of three runs in the end, with Ashwin bagging the Player of the Match for his all-round exploits (30 off 22, and 2/25).
Scorecard of RCB from their previous IPL 2023 game
Unlike CSK, RCB will enter tonight's game on the back of a morale-boosting win over the Delhi Capitals (DC).
DC skipper David Warner won the toss and elected to field first in an evening game in Bangalore. The two RCB openers in Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis once again got their team off to a flyer, accumulating 42 runs within the first 27 balls.
While du Plessis couldn't convert his start, Kohli went on to score his third fifty of the season. However, he was dismissed on a juicy full toss off Lalit Yadav's bowling.
Following Kohli's dismissal, RCB lost wickets in a cluster and never fully recovered. Following a 42-run partnership between Anuj Rawat and Shahbaz Ahmed, RCB posted a total of 174/6 in the first innings.
In what should've been a plain-sailing chase on a batting-favoured pitch, DC batters failed miserably. They lost three wickets with just two runs on the board. While Manish Pandey kept his wicket intact, he ran out of partners at the other end.
In the 14th, Pandey himself got trapped in front on 50 as Delhi could only score 151/9 in their reply.
Debutant Vijaykumar Vyshak took a brilliant three-wicket haul for just 20 runs as RCB won the game by 23 runs. Mohammed Siraj also continued his impressive form and took a two-wicket haul to take his season tally to seven, the most by any RCB bowler currently.
With the aim of continuing their winning momentum, RCB will also be hoping to take full advantage of the home conditions once again when they go up against southern rivals CSK later today.