Faf du Plessis pointed to the faltering display with the bat in the powerplay as the reason for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s loss in the IPL 2024 opener against Chennai Super Kings. Faf Du Plessis, the RCB captain, got off to a flier after electing to bat in Chennai, smashing seven fours in the first three overs. But du Plessis fell to Mustafizur Rahman in the fifth and RCB slumped from 41 for 0 to 42 for 3 soon after.
Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik’s 95-run stand helped RCB fight back from 78 for 5 and finish with 173, a score that Karthik, at the halfway mark, suggested was under par. That proved correct as CSK won with eight balls in hand and Faf Du Plessis led RCB again started the IPL on a loosing note .
RCB’s dramatic collapse in the top post Faf Du Plessis quickfire start derailed RCB’s plans of putting a formidable total
Royal Challengers Bengaluru lost the opener of the Indian Premier League 2024 against Chennai Super Kings on Friday, 22 March. Despite starting well after winning the toss, RCB slowly trickled out of the game after Mustafizur Rahman’s double strike in the fifth over of the powerplay. After going behind in that stage, RCB played catch-up throughout the game and ended up losing by 6 wickets against Ruturaj Gaikwad’s side.
Skipper Faf du Plessis (35) provided a brutal start to the team. But after he got out, RCB didn’t get going at all. From 41/0 they were reduced to 78/5 with all the big guns back in the hut. With the kind of start they had, it seemed that they would go past 200 runs but that wasn’t the case. RCB lost too many wickets in the first seven overs which forced them to be on the backfoot throughout the game. In fact, Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar, two important middle-order batters for RCB, registered ducks.
After losing Cameron Green (18) and Virat Kohli (21) cheaply inside the 12th over, RCB found heroes in Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik who were able to stitch a partnership to take the team to a respectable position after 1st 20 overs.
With them being 78/5, not many backed them to go past 150 runs. But thanks to a 95-run stand between Anuj Rawat (48) and Dinesh Karthik (38). They played incredibly well and bailed the team out of trouble. The effort helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru post a total of 173 runs, which CSK chased with 6 wickets in hand.
Faf du Plessis admitted that they batted poorly in the first 10 overs. He also acknowledged Chennai Super Kings for their incredible middle-over bowling before defending his decision to bat first
Faf du Plessis furious on RCB’s batting line up
Faf du Plessis admitted that they batted poorly in the first 10 overs. He also acknowledged Chennai Super Kings for their incredible middle-over bowling before defending his decision to bat first. Speaking to broadcasters after the match, he stated:
“Always when you play, you get a bit of dip after the six overs. Chennai are a very good team in the middle overs, they squeeze you with their spinners. Maybe we were about 15-20 runs short, the pitch wasn’t as bad as we played in the first 10 overs,”
“They were always ahead in the chase, we tried to squeeze and get a couple of wickets, but in the end, we didn’t have enough runs. On this pitch, it is always better to bat first. Last year, the record was very skewed towards teams that batted first. The ball started to grip a bit with our spinners,” he added.
RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis in all praise of Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Kartik
Faf du Plessis further hailed the efforts of Dinesh Karthik and Anuj Rawat with the bat during the first innings. He believes that it was important for Karthik to have a hit because he hasn’t played a lot of cricket of late. The RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis also praised Anuj Rawat for his heroics with the bat. He said that the young batter showed great composure over the last year for the team. He added:
“Good for Dinesh to set up his season, especially for someone who hasn’t played a lot of cricket. Anuj has shown some great promise for us, he showed great composure for a young guy and great power through the backend,”
Royal Challengers Bengaluru will next be seen in action when they will take on Punjab Kings (PBKS). The match will take place on Monday (25th March) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru and will hope that their top order comes to form quickly on the home ground .