RCB vs CSK IPL 2023: Devon Conway leads CSK to a thrilling 8 run win

IPL, 24th Match: Chennai Super Kings 226 for 6 (Devon Conway 83, Dube 52, Siraj 1-30) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 218 for 8 (Maxwell, 76, du Plessis 62, Deshpande 3-45, Pathirana 2-42) by 8 runs. 

Faf du Plessis, along with coach Stephen Fleming, led Jo’burg Super Kings to the inaugural SA20 semi-finals in February of this year. At the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Royal Challengers Bangalore threatened to slaughter 227 against Fleming and MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings two months after du Plessis launched an audacious attack on Glenn Maxwell.

After Super Kings had reached 226 for 6 thanks to Devon Conway’s 45-ball 83 and Shivam Dube’s 27-ball 52, they struck first with Impact Player Akash Singh to bowl Virat Kohli out for 6 in the first over. In the subsequent over, Mahipal Lomror was bowled out by Tushar Deshpande. However, du Plessis and Maxwell went after Super Kings’ inexperienced seamers, putting them on 75 for 2 in the powerplay.

Illustrious Challengers multiplied that score by the fourteenth over, with du Plessis – solid side and all – riding his karma to push them considerably further ahead. Dhoni dropped Du Plessis behind the stumps on 0 and Maheesh Theekshana dropped him off his own bowling on 52. Super Rulers dropped two additional gets in a remiss handling exertion, yet late wickets and clever varieties from the Sri Lankan sets of Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana made all the difference for them.

With a flashing 104 kph carrom ball, Theekshana had bowled Maxwell out for 76 off 36 balls in an over that had no boundaries. After being bowled by Maxwell for 26 runs in ten balls, Pathirana had Shahbaz Ahmed holing out in the 18th over for just four runs.

Suyash Prabhudessai, an impact player for Royal Challengers, hit Deshpande for six in the 19th over, but Pathirana was able to defend 18 off the final over with his slinky yorkers and slower cutters that were on pace. His bowling coach, Dwayne Bravo, congratulated him from the dugout after he caught Prabhudessai in the last ball at deep midwicket.

Devon Conway, Rahane turn up the tempo

Mohammed Siraj once again excelled on the powerplay, giving up just six runs in his two innings and getting rid of Ruturaj Gaikwad for three. Conway and Ajinkya Rahane had also started slowly, but in the fifth over, bowled by rookie seamer Vyshak Vijaykumar, they picked up the pace. Conway made a scooped four while Rahane hit the top of the Chinnaswamy Arena with a 91-meter six.

The Super Kings went up to 53 for 1 in six overs after Rahane cracked Wayne Parnell for 4,6,4 in the final over. He attempted to keep up the going after aim against Wanindu Hasaranga, however the wristspinner outclassed him with a wrong’un.

Dube dazzles

After dismissing Rahane, Hasaranga only bowled two overs and did not return because Super Kings had promoted their left-handed spinner Dube to No. 4. Dube was paired with Maxwell by Royal Challengers, but he won the match by launching his own six into the ground’s roof.

Conway made back-to-back half-centuries and looked good for his first IPL hundred, but Harshal Patel ended up getting rid of him for 83 with a yorker that was dipping. Dube continued to find or clear the boundary despite the Royal Challengers’ lack of a true fast bowler. He charged to a 25-ball fifty preceding Parnell made them opening out in the seventeenth over.

The drama at the death

Super Kings appeared to be on track for 230 runs, despite losing Ambati Rayudu in the subsequent over. However, in the 19th over, Siraj hit wide yorkers that cost ten runs.

Harshal started the final over, which was finished by Maxwell, who took over as captain; A side strain kept du Plessis off the field during that time.

Harshal had to be taken out of the attack after bowling two beamers. Maxwell carried himself into the assault, in front of Hasaranga, and yielded nine runs, including a wide, for the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja off the last four balls.

The du Plessis-Maxwell show

Due to du Plessis and Maxwell, Royal Challengers were two runs behind after two overs, but they still broke out of the gate strongly. They utilized their strengths, with du Plessis prevailing over Maxwell’s spin and pace. 45 of the Royal Challengers’ 75 powerplay runs were attributed to Du Plessis.

After that, Maxwell took center stage and set up Jadeja and Theekshana. After the powerplay, Maxwell snatched Pathirana and hit him with a 94-meter six over square leg.

In just 12 overs, the pair reached 141 off 2 for their team. At the Chinnaswamy, 86 runs in eight overs is a manageable target, but Theekshana got Maxwell skiing behind to set up Super Kings’ comeback.

Pathirana steps up

After that, Dinesh Karthik fielded the spinners and scored a 14-ball 28 to dominate the match. Royal Challengers needed 35 off 18 balls when Karthik was out. Two of those would be bowled by Pathirana.

Super Rulers had selected against surging Pathirana back into it since he had recently recuperated from Coronavirus. Yet, with Sisanda Magala additionally joining their physical issue list, they tossed Pathirana in with the general mish-mash on a simple paced Chinnaswamy track. He showed excellent control with his variations after taking a pasting in the initial exchanges, demonstrating why Super Kings were interested in signing him before he had played in the Lanka Premier League in Sri Lanka.

In an IPL game where a record-equalling 33 sixes were hit, Pathirana held his nerve to drag Super Rulers back into the top portion of the standings.