Match Center

Right then, the 17th edition of the Indian T20 League has taken off with the reigning champions, Chennai, getting their campaign off to a winning start, marking a successful debut for Ruturaj Gaikwad as captain. Saturday, the 23rd of March, will be the first of many double-header days where Punjab will host Delhi in the first game of the day at 3.30 pm IST (10 am GMT). It will be followed by Kolkata taking on Hyderabad, and that game will begin at 7.30 pm IST (2 pm GMT). As you know, our build-up for both games will begin much sooner. See you then. Cheers!

Mustafizur Rahman is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for his brilliance with the ball, taking 4 for 29 from his four overs.

The skipper of Chennai, Ruturaj Gaikwad says that they were in total control of this game. Mentions that two or three overs here and there but the spinners pulled back things. Adds that they gave away 10-15 runs too many but credit to the Bengaluru batters for the way they batted. He opines that quick wickets were the turning point and getting Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell in quick succession was very good.  Adds that he has always enjoyed captaining and has not felt any added pressure. Shares that he has MS Dhoni in his side and everyone in their squad is an experienced player. States that Ajinkya Rahane is also batting really well and everyone knows how to play and who to take on. Ends by saying that there were a lot of positives but reckons that they have still two to three things to work on.

Time for the presentation ceremony...

The captain of Bengaluru, Faf du Plessis says that they were looking to get ahead of the game at the start but unfortunately lost a few quick wickets that brought them on the backfoot. He adds that the bowling was a little bit behind and the batters have been a step ahead from the start. He mentions that they managed to pull things back with a few wickets but it was not enough. Talks about Shivam Dube being a very good batter against spin but the way he played the bouncers was very good to watch. Ends by saying that Anuj Rawat showed good composure and it is a positive sign for the team.

Earlier in the game, after Faf du Plessis called it right, he had no hesitation in opting to bat first. Faf du Plessis got off the blocks quickly and got Bengaluru off to a flier. His departure triggered a mini-collapse as Rajat Patidar and Glenn Maxwell departed in quick succession without troubling the scorers. Virat Kohli and Cameron Green got together to steady the ship but before they could break free, their stay was cut short. Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik joined hands and had a real job on their hands at that stage. Both batters started by picking the ones and twos before changing gears. Rawat was the aggressor of the two batters and thanks to the 95-run rescue act by him and Karthik, Bengaluru recovered from 78-5 to get to 173. For Chennai, Mustafizur Rahman was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4 for 29 from his four overs. All his wickets came in the middle phase which helped Chennai to claw their way back into the game after a brisk start from Bengaluru.

As for Bengaluru, having recovered from a precarious position and finished well with the bat, they had a fighting total on the board. Mohammed Siraj was a bit off with his lines and lengths but Yash Dayal made the new ball talk to get the prized scalp of Chennai skipper. However, they were not able to build on that scalp and Rachin Ravindra took the attack to them. They staged a mini-comeback in the middle phase with twin strikes from Cameron Green and a solitary wicket from Karn Sharma. Considering the kind of start they had, Chennai had the chase under control despite losing three wickets in the middle phase and Bengaluru needed to pick up a wicket or two at that stage to get their noses in front. Their short-ball ploy did not work out against Dube and he joined hands with Jadeja and took the game away from them.

Chennai begin their title defence with a win! A job well done by the defending champions in the curtain raiser and they have outstretched their record, winning the last eight Indian T20 League games at home against Bengaluru. In pursuit of 174 runs, Ruturaj Gaikwad walked out to open the innings with his new opening partner, Rachin Ravindra. Playing in his maiden Indian T20 League game, Ravindra was quick to get into the groove. Although Gaikwad's inning was short-lived, Ravindra kept finding the boundaries to set the tone of the chase. However, he failed to kick on, and the onus was then on Ajinkya Rahane and Daryl Mitchell to take the innings forward. Rahane could not convert his start, and it was the same story with Mitchell. Having soaked up the barrage of short balls, the Impact Player, Shivam Dube, grew in confidence as the innings progressed. At the other end, Ravindra Jadeja did not allow the bowlers to settle and ticked along at a good rate. A 66-run unbeaten stand between the two southpaws took Chennai over the line with 8 balls to spare.

FOUR LEG BYES! Chennai and Shivam Dube finish off the run chase and have won the first game of the season. Alzarri Joseph pitches the ball up with pace on the pads of Shivam Dube who looks to flick the ball but gets a hit on the pads and the ball rolls away to the fine leg fence for a boundary. Bengaluru take the review but the Ball Tracking shows that the ball has pitched outside the leg stump.

This looks more in hope than anything else. The third umpire is called into action for an LBW review. Nothing on UltraEdge and as it looked at first glance, the ball has pitched outside leg on Ball Tracking.

SIX! Shivam Dube slams Alzarri Joseph for a huge SIX! Alzarri Joseph drops it short once again and this time Shivam Dube stands ready and pulls it away from the middle of the bat and deposits the ball into the stands over deep square leg. Chennai now just 2 runs away from the first win of the season.

A very well-directed short ball again at the batter. Shivam Dube looks to launch a pull but misses it completely.

WIDE! Wayward outside the leg stump line with pace. Good take behind the stumps by Anuj Rawat but the umpire signals WIDE.

Short of a length, on middle, Ravindra Jadeja pulls it through square leg for a single.

Short and wide outside the off stump line. Shivam Dube looks to cut the ball but gets beaten.

FOUR! What a shot from Shivam Dube! Good ball from Mohammed Siraj as he bangs in short on top of the off stump line and Shivam Dube stands tall and launches the ball straight over the bowler's head and gets it to go away to the fence.

Pitches the ball up on the off stump line. Shivam Dube drives it straight to covers from the crease.