Chennai Super Kings (CSK) started their IPL title defence with a seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the opening match of IPL 2019 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday night.
Fans hoped for a spectacle display of balls going behind the fences, but instead the match was a low-scoring game. Batsmen from CSK and RCB struggled to make shots at Chepauk, the pitch was very lousy right from the start.
After opting to bowl first, CSK bundled out RCB for 70 runs. Ambati Rayudu top-scored for CSK with 28 runs, the home team won by 14 balls to spare.
RCB’s collapse started with MSD put Harbhajan to open bowling. He got skipped Kohli for 6, and finished his four over quota at 20/3. Meanwhile, Tahir and Jadeja continued attacking. RCB finished at 70/10 in 17.1 overs. Parthiv Patel was the top-scorer and the last man dismissed for RCB at 29.
Suresh Raina who contributed 19 for CSK, completed 5,000 runs in IPL.
Despite a winning the opener CSK captain MS Dhoni, was not a happy man. He said that the pitch in Chennai needed to be a “lot better” if his team wanted do good at home consistently. MS Dhoni was unsure about the pitch despite playing a practice match on it. MSD added that the Chennai pitch doesn’t suit the CSK players at all.