Chennai Super Kings are chasing 197 to win their second game at home at the Chepauk against RCB. CSK have been unbeaten at home against RCB since IPL 2008. RCB posted 196/7 after being asked to bat first.
In this game, however, they are under the pump early on. Two wickets by Josh Hazlewood in the second over of the Chennai Super Kings pegged them on the back foot. They lost two more wickets in the powerplay as they reached 65/4 after the first 10 overs.
Josh Hazlewood first dismissed Rahul Tripathi (5 runs off 3 balls) and then dismissed CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (0 off 4 balls) in his first over to put the hosts on the backfoot. The Super Kings reached 30 for 3 after the powerplay.
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Josh Hazlewood Provides Early Breakthrough For RCB Against CSK
The RCB bowlers, led by Josh Hazlewood, have been on the money right from the start. RCB new recruit Bhuvneshwar Kumar also backed up Hazlewood and dismissed Deepak Hooda (4 runs off 9 balls) to strangle the CSK run-chase further. With the spinners in Krunal Pandya, Suyash Sharma and Liam Livingstone RCB can do well to limit the run-scoring in the middle-overs. Livingstone finally gave an important breakthrough as he dismissed his England teammate Sam Curran (8 runs off 13 balls) in the ninth over of the innings.
With CSK already having lost four wickets inside the powerplay, MS Dhoni might need to come up the batting-order in this big run-chase. Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin might also need to play abig role.
Hard-hitter Shivam Dube is listed among the Impact players for Chennai Super Kings and they might need him in the final overs alongside MS Dhoni. CSK had a slow start inside the powerplay as they reached just 30 in the first six overs. Rajat Patidar as captain made the right bowling changes and he will need to keep it doing in the second half of the innings as well.
Meanwhile, CSK spinner Noor Ahmad spoke in the mid-innings beak about his bowling effort in the first innings. He said that he enjoyed taking Virat Kohli's wicket.
"Truly grateful for the Purple Cap and hopefully I keep it till the end of the tournament. The pitch was a little different, there wasn't much turn and I wanted to bowl length deliveries. I feel lucky to have him (Dhoni) behind the stumps. The wicket looks better, we need a good start and we will chase it down. Everyone will enjoy it (getting Kohli's wicket)" said Noor.
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