Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru was the venue for the 24th match of the TATA IPL season. The game was between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings. The game was also special because, it was the last time that MS Dhoni was going to be playing at the venue. The Chennai Super Kings skipper is reportedly playing his final season in the Indian Premier League.
The story as it happened –
Faf Du Plessis won the toss and decided to bowl first. Chennai made one change as Pathirana the Sri Lankan quick came in for Magala who had got injured. Bangalore went in with the same team.
Dhoni’s body language shows his frustration –
Suyash Prabhudessai was drafted in as the Impact player and the batter from Goa was giving Chennai some jittery moments. The incident happened during the final few moments of the game.
Moeen Ali was seen fielding very casually and threw the ball to MS Dhoni. The Chennai skipper flicked the stumps in nonchalant manner but was fuming from inside. Dhoni known to keep his cool was seen gesticulating to Ali for his lazy fielding efforts.
— Billu Pinki (@BilluPinkiSabu) April 18, 2023
Conway leads Chennai’s batting efforts –
Ruturaj Gaikwad was out early when he fell for 3 caught by Parnell off Mohammad Siraj. Rahane and Conway then added 74 runs for the 2nd wicket. 34 year Rahane was bowled by Hasaranga for 37 off 20 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes.
The start of Chennai Super Kings batting was Devon Conway who scored 83 off 45 balls. The left hander looked good for a ton before he was bowled by Harshal Patel. Conway hit 6 fours and 6 sixes in his knock.
Shivam Dube’s brutal assault helps Chennai score 226 –
Devon Conway wasn’t the only one who was leading the assault on the Bangalore bowlers. Left handed batter Shivam Dube who was previously with the RCB outfit scored 52 off 27 balls with 2 fours and 5 massive sixes with one six being recorded at 111 meters. Rayudu (14), Ali (19*) and Jadeja with 10 were the other contributorswith the bat. MS Dhoni scored 1 run in the only ball he got to play.
Bangalore lose two early wickets but Max and Faf stage a fightback–
Chasing 227 to win, Virat Kohli was bowled by Akash Singh for 6, while Tushar Deshpande got rid off Lomror for a duck. From 15/2 the stage was set for a fightback as Maxwell and Faf Du Plessis took on the Chennai bowlers.
The two added 126 runs for the 3rd wicket in 61 balls as the Chennai players and crowd were starting to worry about the prospective loss. Maxwell was brutal in his knock as he scored 76 off 36 balls with 3 fours and 8 sixes.
Chennai bowlers strike back –
The game changed when Theekshana who had dropped two catches had Maxwell caught by Dhoni. The Chennai skipper struck again with a key catch when he caught Faf Du Plessis off Moeen Ali. The RCB skipper scored 62 off 33 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes.
Dinesh Karthik got Bangalore back into the game with 14 ball 28 to find his form back. Shahbaz Ahmed and Prabhudesai tried to bring Bangalore back into the contest, but some good death bowling by Deshpande and Pathirana won CSK the game by 9 runs.