Chennai Super Kings went into the Chinnaswamy Stadium and left with an eight run win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a high-scoring IPL 2023 match, here.Chennai set a massive target of 227 runs for Bangalore, led by a superb 83-run knock by Devon Conway (45b, 6x4, 6x6) and 52 runs from Shivan Dube (27b, 2x4, 5x6).
In reply, Bangalore lost their star batter Virat Kohli early but an explosive 126-run partnership in just 61 balls between Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell meant they were always in the game. Both batters were dismissed in back-to-back overs and the Challengers fell short by just eight runs on Monday night.
"His (Conway) batting usually goes this way, he takes some time to settle in at the start but after that, if he plays, he plays for a long time. You need a batter that can score 83 runs on 45 balls and someone who plays on one end for 14-15 overs and maintain the strike rate.
We spoke about his lack of contribution on this front prior to the game but whenever he has contributed, he has put CSK in a winning position, which is why they persist with him," said former India cricketer JioCinema IPL expert Parthiv Patel.
Bangalore looked like they would steal this win and chase down the massive target primarily due to the incredible partnership between Du Plessis and Maxwell."This contribution set RCB up to go the whole way.
The run rate required was never an issue, the huge power of a partnership where he and Maxwell got together 126 off just 61. Really set them up. What I really like about it is that they didn't allow losing two wickets to hamper the shot selection. They just thought of putting as much pressure as possible on CSK," said Eoin Morgan.
Even though Maxwell and Du Plessis gave the home fans at Chinnaswamy something to cheer for, former India pacer Zaheer Khan pointed out a larger flaw in the RCB batting strategy beyond their big three of Kohli, Faf, and Maxwell.
"The way Faf and Max batted, especially with Virat Kohli getting dismissed early, we understand the pressure they were under. In the middle-order or to finish, if Dinesh Karthik cannot perform like the way he used to play previously, then these issues will persist all season long as the rest of them are inexperienced," Zaheer said.
MS Dhoni kept his team's nerves in check even when it looked like the game had swung in RCB's favor. Former England spinner Graeme Swann was happy to see Dhoni emerge as the victorious captain, "For CSK to hold their nerve, I didn't think they were going to do it with only 4 or 5 overs left, RCB had it in the bag.
But they held their nerves and they won the game. Hats off to Dhoni, he came up on top of the two kings tonight," said Swann.