Chennai, Mar 28: A blistering half-century from skipper Rajat Patidar and explosive cameos by Phil Salt and Tim David pushed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to 196/7 in their 20 overs against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk Stadium on Friday.
Nearly every RCB batter got a fine start, but except for Patidar, none of them could make it into something big. Noor Ahmed was the pick of the bowlers for CSK once again with three scalps, who also got the wicket of Virat Kohli.
After CSK won the toss and opted to field first, Phil Salt put RCB to a fine start, striking Ravichandran Ashwin for two fours and a six in the second over. On the other end, Virat Kohli was trying to connect against pacers and spinners alike but struggled to do so.
At the final ball of the fifth over, CSK got a huge breakthrough as a lightning-fast stumping from MS Dhoni on a Noor Ahmed delivery removed Salt for a 16-ball 32, with five fours and a six. RCB was 45/1 in five overs.
A fine six by Devdutt Padikkal helped RCB bring up their 50-run mark in 5.5 overs. At the end of six overs, RCB was 56/1, with Padikkal (9*) and Virat (11*) unbeaten.
In the next over against Ravindra Jadeja, Padikkal showed some serious intent against spin, hitting him for two fours and a six.
However, a catch from skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad on a Ravichandran Ashwin delivery ended Padikkal's brief cameo of 27 in 14 balls, with two fours and two sixes. RCB was 76/2 in 7.5 overs.
At the end of 10 overs, RCB was 93/2, with skipper Rajat Patidar (11*) joining a struggling Virat (16*).
The start of the 11th over saw one of the innings' highlights as after being hit on his head by a Matheesha Pathirana bouncer, Virat responded back with a six and four, bringing his strike rate into a better position. Thanks to a four by Patidar, the over went for 16 runs and 100 runs were up in 10.3 overs.
Virat perished to Noor for 31 in 30 balls (two fours and six) while being caught by Rachin Ravindra in an attempt to go big (RCB: 117/3 in 12.2 overs), Patidar looted 15 runs from Jadeja's over, getting two fours and a six.
After 15 overs, RCB was 138/3, with Liam Livingstone (4*) joining Patidar (36*).
After hitting Noor for a six, Livingstone was cleaned up for 10 off nine balls, with RCB down at 145/4 in 15.3 overs. A six by Jitesh Sharma on the final ball of the over moved RCB to the 150-run mark.
Patidar and Jitesh continued getting boundaries against Pathirana and Khaleel Ahmed. Patidar reached his eighth fifty in 30 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes.
The partnership between the duo broke as Jitesh was caught by Jadeja for 12 off six balls on a Khaleel delivery. RCB was 172/5 in 17.4 overs. The wicket of skipper Patidar (51 in 32 balls) to Pathirana moved RCB to backfoot. RCB was 176/6 in 18.1 overs. Pathirana also got Krunal Pandya for a three-ball duck on a poorly-timed shot.
In the 19th over, Tim David got three successive sixes against Sam Curran. RCB ended their innings at 196/7, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0*) and Tim David (22* in eight balls, a four and three sixes).
Noor (3/36) was the pick of the bowlers for CSK. Also, Pathirana got two wickets and Ashwin, Khaleel got one wicket each. (ANI)

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