Harbhajan turns it on, singes RCB
Offie catches big fish Kohli and AB as Chennai rout Bangalore for 70 in easy victory
CHENNAI: Two love affairs continued at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday. MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh, two stalwarts nearing 40, showed once again how deep their connection goes with this venue in the opening match of 2019 IPL.
‘Thala’ Dhoni just senses the behaviour of this iconic stadium. The Chennai Super Kings captain read the pitch correctly and included three spinners in the eleven. The slow surface played the villain as Royal Challengers Bangalore were bundled out for 70 – their joint second lowest, and the joint-sixth lowest total ever in the tournament.
Harbhajan, whose best Test haul of 15 scalps came here against Australia 18 years ago, was the wrecker-in-chief, leaving the star-studded RCB tottering. He accounted for the wickets of skipper Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali in the first eight overs, maintaining his love for the venue.
CSK reached 71/3 in 17.4 overs, extending RCB’S wait for a win here since 2008.
Reading the slow pitch well, Dhoni, having won the toss, got in Harbhajan in the second over.
The first three overs saw Kohli and fellow opener Parthiv Patel kept quiet due to some tight bowling by Deepak Chahar and Harbhajan. That the ball was holding up a bit, and not bouncing much, made it tougher for the batsmen.
With frustration mounting, Kohli went deep into the crease and pulled Harbhajan from outside off-stump in the fourth over. Dhoni had placed Jadeja at deepmidwicket for such a mistake and the latter’s safe hands ensured CSK had the break. Harbhajan followed that up with Moeen’s wicket in his next over, the sixth. He got extra bounce off the pitch and the England all-rounder misjudged, giving the easiest of return catches.
If losing their captain and No 3 batsman inside the powerplay overs was not enough, RCB were dealt a telling blow when they lost de Villiers in the eighth over. Again Bhajji was in the thick of things. The South African great tried to sweep the off-spinner but misread the pace of the delivery, top-edging to Jadeja at midwicket. At 38/3, RCB hoped new recruit Shimron Hetmyer would emerge the saviour. But he was run out in the same over as de Villiers. Harbhajan ended his spell with figures of 3/20.
By now, Dhoni realised his spinners held the key. He introduced Jadeja and Imran Tahir to keep the pressure up, and even used Suresh Raina for one over.
Tahir mopped up the lower order taking out Shivam Dube, Navdeep Saini and Yuzvendra Chahal, finishing with figures of 3/9. Jadeja accounted for two wickets.
RAINA ON MT 5K
RCB too started with Yuzvendra Chahal and got opener Shane Watson in the third over. But Raina and Ambati Rayudu played with patience to keep the hosts on course. Raina crossed 5000 runs in IPL, the first player to do so, in his 177th match as the sea of CSK fans found an extra reason to cheer another favourite player of theirs.