RCB vs CSK, IPL 2023: Chennai overcome du Plessis, Maxwell blitz to beat Bangalore in high-scoring thriller

The match resembled a Hollywood action flick that has guns sizzling from reel one till the credit line rolls. At the end of relentless domination by batters and an avalanche of runs, Chennai Super Kings emerged an 8-run winner over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Monday.

RCB needed to mount the highest ever chase in IPL history, 227, but they fell inches short of that massive feat on a pitch that offered precious little to the bowlers.

In fact, it was tough to imagine a sustained passage of play where the bowlers exerted any meaningful control over the proceedings.

The bowlers’ success on the night depended more on the mistakes made by the batters than any real exhibition of their skills.

Batters make merry at Chinnaswamy

However, batters did deserve a pat on their back for exploiting the conditions. The Super Kings batters set the trend for the night with a blazing effort after they were asked to bat first.

Devon Conway (83 off 45 balls), Ajinkya Rahane (37 off 20 balls), Shivam Dube (52 off 27 balls), Ambati Rayudu (14 off 6 balls) and Moeen Ali (19 off 9 balls), all struck in excess of 180 as RCB bowlers leaked runs as their economy comfortably tipped over 10.

The batsmen did not have to do anything spectacular to score runs, as all they had to do was to make a connection between the willow and the leather. Such was the smoothness of this pitch at Chinnaswamy.

There was an exception though. Mohammad Siraj conceded just 30 runs in 4 overs (7.50 economy), but there was no real support for him from his colleagues and his figures remained the best from either side.

The Faf and Maxwell show

At the beginning of the chase, RCB were 15 for 2 after losing Virat Kohli and Mahipal Lomror but that was just a false alarm.

The Royal Challengers made a return through skipper Faf du Plessis (62 off 32 balls), Glenn Maxwell (76 off 36 balls), and Dinesh Karthik (28 off 14 balls). But that wasn’t just enough because the enormity of CSK total meant that RCB batters had to indulge in sustained hitting.

At some stage, the approach will result in regular fall of wickets and it happened to RCB also as they lost the steam in the end.

But by then the teams together scored 444 runs, highest aggregate in Bangalore, and 33 sixes, equalling the highest number of sixes in a match, before a simple catch at the deep by Ravindra Jadeja signalled the end of the match.