Mumbai | Jagran Sports Desk: Shivam Dube, Robin Uthappa, Maheesh Theekshana, and skipper Ravindra Jadeja all showed their class on Tuesday as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 23 runs here at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai to win their first match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.
Asked to bat first after losing the toss, the CSK scored 216 runs in their 20 overs, thanks to blistering innings from Shivam Dube (95 not out off 46 balls) and Robin Uthappa (88 off 50 balls). The two shared a whooping 165-run partnership off just 74 balls for the third wicket – the highest this season – to rally the innings after CSK was reeling at 36 for 2 in their 200th IPL match.
While Uthappa’s knock was studded with nine sixes and four boundaries, Dube also hit eight sixes and five fours in his unbeaten 46-ball knock. Both Dube and Uthappa posted their highest IPL scores to set up the match for defending champions CSK, who are reeling from four straight losses and are still looking for their first win this season.
“First of all, this is the first victory as a captain ever. I would like to dedicate to my wife because first victory is always special. Previous four games, we couldn’t cross the line. But as a team, we came good. As a batting unit, everybody did a good job. Robbie and Shivam batted brilliantly. The bowlers contributed with the ball as well,” said Jadeja after the match.
Meanwhile, all RCB bowlers struggled against the duo with Akash Deep being the most expensive after he gave 58 runs from his four overs. The pick of the bowlers for RCB was Wanindu Hasaranga, who picked two wickets for 35 runs in his four overs.
Besides Hasaranga, Josh Hazlewood (1/33 from 4 overs) was the only other wicket-taker for the RCB.
RCB’s innings, however, didn’t start the way they would have wanted after skipper Faf du Plessis got dismissed for just 8 runs off 9 balls. Opener Anuj Rawat (12 off 16 balls ), Virat Kohli (1 off 3 balls), and Glenn Maxwell (26 off 11 balls) were also dismissed cheaply, putting more pressure on their side.
Shahbaz Ahmed (41 off 27 balls) and Suyash Prabhudessai (34 off 18 balls) tried to stabilise the innings, but their efforts were not enough to help their side win the match. In the end, Dinesh Karthik’s 34 off 14 balls helped RCB reach 193 as CSK won the game by 23 runs.
“When you are chasing a big score you have to have a good start. One of the first four setting up the foundation, we didn’t have that tonight. Good bowling from Chennai, they used their spinners well on a pitch that had some grip. We lost momentum with wickets, but we came back well. That shows the depth in our batting,” said du Plessis after the match.
Brief Score:
Chennai Super Kings: 216 for 4 in 20 overs (Robin Uthappa 88, Shivam Dube 95 not out; Wanindu Hasaranga de Silva 2/35).
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 193 for 9 in 20 overs (Shahbaz Ahmed 41, Maheesh Theekshana 4/34, Ravindra Jadeja 3/39).
