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The much-awaited Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season kickstarted with an enthralling clash between perennial rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the iconic Chepauk Stadium in Chennai. In a riveting battle, CSK emerged victorious, marking a remarkable start to their IPL campaign and setting the stage for an action-packed season.
The match began at 8 pm – a half hour later than usual, to make a little extra time for the star-studded opening ceremony featuring Bade Miyan Chote Miyan co-stars Akshay Kumar and Tiger Shroff as well as AR Rahman and Sonu Nigam. Free streaming on JioCinema, and TV broadcast on Star Sports were the key ways to see the match – unless you were among the sea of yellow at Chepauk.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won their opening Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match against Royal Challengers Bangaluru (RCB) by six wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Friday night. CSK chased down RCB’s total of 175 with an over to spare after an impressive knock from Rachin Ravindra, who scored 62 runs on his IPL debut. CSK chased down RCB’s total of 175 with an over to spare after an impressive knock from Rachin Ravindra, who scored 62 runs on his IPL debut.
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A sensational four-fer from Mustafizur Rahman, followed by a composed innings of 34* from Shivam Dube helped Chennai Super Kings grab a clinical six-wicket win over rivals Royal Challengers Bangalore.
- RCB Winning the toss
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won the toss, and elected to bat first. RCB captain Faf Du Plessis hit eight boundaries, before Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman and fielder Rachin Ravindra struck in the fifth over to get du Plessis out for 35 runs. The same combination of Rahman (b) and Ravindra (c) also dismissed Virat Kohli on 21 in the 12th over.
Virat Kohli has crossed 1,000 runs in RCB matches against CSK and 12,000 runs in the T20 format overall.
Dinesh Karthik and Anuj Rawat built a sixth wicket partnership of 95 runs to give the Royal Challengers Bengaluru a fighting chance in the inaugural Indian Premier League 2024 match. RCB, who were 79/5 by the end of the 12th over, however, could not covert that chance into victory.
RCB will be disappointed that big hitters like Glenn Maxwell were neutralized very early on (Maxwell went for duck off his very first ball, with MS Dhoni taking that catch behind the stumps) though there’s something to cheer there, too – with 48 runs on the board, Anuj Rawat was the highest scorer in the match.
Rawat, 24, made his IPL debut with the Rajasthan Royals in 2021. RCB acquired him in the 2022 IPL Mega Auction for Rs 3.4 crore. The match winner of the evening – and player of the match – was Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizur who took four wickets, decimating RCB’s top order.
He dismissed Faf Du Plessis, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Cameron Green – none of them got even close to a 50. Mustafizur’s bowling figures from the night tell the story: four wickets in four overs at the cost of just 29 runs and an economy of 7.25. Also in the CSK camp, New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra made an impact.
Apart from the two crucial catches, he put 37 runs on the board for just 15 balls at a strike rate over 246. CSK have added two points to their IPL 2024 Points Table, and a healthy net run rate of +0.779. CSK have won five IPL titles, and will look to take that number to six while MS Dhoni is still playing with the India Cements-owned team.
- Chennai Super Kings defeating Royal Challengers Bengaluru- A Ritual to follow
RCB have yet to win their first IPL title or an IPL 2024 despite being favourites to win for many years. RCB’s Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli were among the top 5 scorers in IPL 2023, and will likely play a key role in the Bengaluru’s IPL 2024 campaign as well.
Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bengaluru have played 32 matches now, but this was the first time the Chennai franchise was playing under the leadership of Ruturaj Gaikwad who took over as CSK captain just one day before the match. CSK vs RCB has traditionally been skewed in favour of the Chennai team, especially when they play at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, as they did on March 22 – CSK have now won 9 out of 10 matches against RCB at Chepauk (now MA Chidambaram Stadium).
