RCB vs CSK Highlights, IPL updates: Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by eight runs

MS Dhoni, winning captain: It’s a good wicket in Bengaluru. You get a lot of dew. You want to start well and then alter whatever is there in your mind. It was slightly tacky at the start. It’s important to go through that and then look to accelerate. We kept it simple.

Faf du Plessis, RCB skipper: Early on in the match, I was diving around and I thought I went at it with my rib. That was the cause of discomfort. I think we played it perfectly, the last five overs were set up for the finish. DK finishing the game, that’s bread and butter for him, but that shows how good their bowling was. 200 was going to be par, we went for few runs towards the end. We could have minimised the damage by restricting them. The last four overs were where it was set up for a perfect finish. It was one of those wickets, one of the best.

Just a single to start the over. Hasaranga denies the second run. Pathirana bowls a slower, wide one to stun Hasaranga. Another single. This is smart work from the bowler. A low, full toss from Pathirana and Prabhudessai reverse-ramps it beyond the ropes. SIX! A timely yorker from Pathirana sees Prabhudessai dig it out and hit it right back at the bowler. Pathirana has been very impressive at the back end of this innings. With two sixes needed to win, Prabhudessai could only manage a couple. CSK has won this contest as far as mathematics is concerned, unless of course, Pathirana fails to bowl a legal delivery. Not only is the last delivery legal, it has brought about another wicket. Pathirana finishes with figures of 4-0-42-2.

Wide to start off the over! Is it the dew or the pressure? Only Deshpande would know. OUT! Dube makes no mistake as Deshpande picks up another. That should be the game. Parnell has hit this straight to the fielder at long-on. Wide again... You cannot take the extras away from Deshpande, can you? SHOT! Six and RCB is right back in this game. Is Prabhudessai the secret X-factor du Plessis was talking about holding back at the toss? Just a single off the last ball and Prabhudessai would keep strike. RCB requires 19 off the last over.

Gaikwad makes up for the missed catch the previous over by holding onto this one to see the back of Shahbaz. Parnell should be the one walking out. He is. MS smiles as he walks over to have a word with Pathirana. A couple of dot balls only increases the pressure on the batters. The run-rate has crept up to 14 now all of a sudden. Wide, Pathirana’s got to reload. Oh no! Both the batters are caught at one end. This should be a run out. But Moeen fails to notice the mistake as well. Saved by the skin of their teeth. This is going down to the wire.

Deshpande starts off with a full toss. And Karthik makes good use of the freebie. Over midwicket, he goes. Now Gaikwad drops one! Goodness... This is really sloppy work from the men in yellow. Karthik would have been walking on 24 but he adds four more to his tally to make things worse for the CSK faithfuls. Theekshana!!! Third time lucky... Finally he holds onto one as Karthik picks him out at long-on. Prabhudessai comes on for Siraj as RCB’s Impact Player.

Theekshana starts off with a wide. The next delivery has been flicked by Karthik through midwicket for four. 11 comes off the over. We will have the strategic timeout!

Cheers of “CSK! CSK!” taking over Chinnaswamy. Unreal atmosphere here in Bengaluru. Karthik, who has been a bit quite in this IPL thus far, settles deep inside his crease to work it squarer, wide off the fielder stationed on the leg side. Six! A stumping appeal from Dhoni... Replays suggest Karthik’s foot had always been grounded. Jadeja bowls out.

SIX! Not the biggest of them all but Shahbaz will take it. He doesn’t middle it but the ball crosses the deep midwicket fence, given the smaller dimensions of the park. RCB’s 150 comes up. du Plessis gets one right where he wants it. The ball shoots up after getting stuck in the pitch and du Plessis bludgeons this over cow corner. A mishit... who’s getting under it? Dhoni it is. It has to be him. du Plessis departs for 62 (33).

Of course, it required Dhoni’s intervention to get things going for CSK against the run of play! Maxwell misfires. It goes high... very high which gives enough time for Dhoni and Theekshana to converge underneath. The bowler, who has already missed two catches tonight, rightfully lets his captain do the honours. Shahbaz is in. There is a huge appeal for LBW as Shahbaz goes for what looks like half-a-reverse sweep and half-a-switch hit. Dhoni goes upstairs and turns out it is pitching outside leg.

Jadeja, who? The spinner has been sent back over his head by Maxwell. 82m long, that maximum to welcome the CSK all-rounder into the attack. Is that it? Maxwell goes again but this time it would land on the green. Rahane makes the run from long-on and gets it only on the half-volley. Unfortunate!

Theekshana returns. CSK would be desperate to get a wicket and break this partnership. Excellent work from Rahane on the fence again to save three precious runs. DROPPED! And Theekshana is the culprit again. This time off his own bowling. du Plessis survives. Dhoni, calm as ever, doesn’t say a word but you can see it in his eyes that he is livid. There is nothing Maxwell can do wrong tonight. He adds insult to injury by getting another maximum for RCB.

Back after the time-out! Pathirana returns. Starts off with an impressive yorker that has been worked towards mid-off for a single. Four! Maxwell gets down on one knee and works the ball away through cover. Maxwell gets to a fifty off 24 balls now with another boundary. His 15th in the IPL. PULLED AWAY! They are putting up a show here, are Maxwell and du Plessis. Banged short and Maxwell unleashes mayhem.

Maxwell is dealing in sixes! His fifth maximum of the evening just teases CSK fans as it lands outside the ground limits after coming into contact with the fingertips of a leaping Gaikwad. Kohli punches the air in delight at the dugout. Rahane with an incredible effort to keep the ball in. Leaps up in the deep, gets a hold of the ball, and throws it in when he realises he won’t be making a safe landing. du Plessis gets to his 28th IPL fifty off 23 deliveries; it is his second fastest in the cash-rich league.

Pathirana to get on with his Malingaesque bowling. After two dots, he manages to nail the yorker but Maxwell has managed to cream a drive through cover. It gets better... Maxwell rides the bounce off a shorter delivery next to pull the Sri Lankan into the crowd. The pressure’s gotten to the bowler, who bowls a wide next.

du Plessis has moved onto the top of the Orange Cap leaderboard. He has 244* runs this season. He is inching closer to a fifty as well. An economical run-a-ball over from Jadeja comes to an end.

Time for Theekshana’s right-arm off-spin. du Plessis exposes all his sticks early, Theekshana sees that happen but can hardly do anything to prevent the six that follows. That brings up the 50-run stand as well. And... another maximum! Bowled onto the pads and Maxwell has hit this over deep square leg. RCB is 22 runs ahead of CSK’s PowerPlay score.

After two dot balls, du Plessis decides enough’s enough. The team fifty comes up as the RCB captain slams it right over the head of the bowler for a 77m six. The strong bottom hand of his comes into play off the next delivery as the ball races away to the fence. Slashed and slashed hard! Four more.

du Plessis hits three back-to-back boundaries off Deshpande’s bowling; two fours and a six. The skipper didn’t even connect the last delivery all that well but it went all the way over deep square leg nevertheless. 17 runs come off that over.

There’s a hint of swing from Akash. That may go on to trouble the duo in the middle for a short while. Bowled too straight and Akash will be punished. Maxwell swivels to hit the flattest of sixes over fine leg. And another! Right in the slot and up, up and away that went. Maxwell decided to explore the long-on region now.

A rare miss from Dhoni! A massive edge from du Plessis slips past Dhoni’s glove. Worse, it rolls down to the fence. Two batters dropped on 0 within minutes of each other. All Deshpande can do is walk back crestfallen to his mark. This time it’s taken! Lomror departs without bothering the scorers as Gaikwad takes a simple catch at point. Maxwell wouldn’t have thought his services would be needed this early.

CSK brings in its impact player. Akash replaces Rayudu. He’ll be bowling over the wicket to Kohli. Kohli steps down the pitch and bisects the 24m between the fielders at midwicket and square leg. It will run down to the fence. CSK punches a hole! Kohli drags one onto himself and the ball trickles down to the sticks. In dismay, Kohli watches one of the bails come off. Lomror is RCB’s No. 3. Theekshana drops a dolly at mid-off. CSK can only hope the missed chance doesn’t return to haunt it later. Lomror heaves a sigh of relief.

Harshal sees Jadeja shuffle across and hurls it wide. Just a single to start off the last over. No ball. Harshal messes up the release and this was almost going to hit Moeen on the grille. We will have a free hit. Maxwell, however, signals the T, more in an effort to break the momentum than to overturn the call of the on-field umpire. The free-hit’s only worth a leg bye and another wide follows. Moeen now triggers a review for waist-high no ball that has not been called on field. A no ball, it is. A smart call from Moeen. And those two waist-high no balls mean Harshal cannot bowl anymore. Jadeja, meanwhile, has a change of bat. Maxwell to complete the long, long over. Jadeja breaks free to hit the comms box. SIX! Wide. And gone.... Jadeja has holed out to Prabhudessai. And almost immediately the stadium erupts for MSD is walking in. He gets a single off what is the ninth ball of the over (legal and illegal deliveries included). Moeen gets a single off the last ball as well.

Moeen Ali goes the distance with a snap of the wrists. Siraj wouldn’t have liked to be greeted with the sight of that ball disappearing. Wide. Jadeja swings for the heavens but misses all of it. However, Siraj does well to keep it down to four off the next five deliveries.

It is a good leg-cutter from Vyshak, almost outside Rayudu’s hitting arc, but the batter manages to get the toe end of his bat to it. That flies over the head of Karthik for four. In the slot with ample pace, and Rayudu sends this flying down the ground. CAUGHT! Karthik calls for this one and takes it comfortably. The leg-cutter, it is, once more, and this time Rayudu ends up getting the top-edge. Jadeja has come out. Hasaranga almost pulls off a blinder off the last delivery.

Dube welcomes Parnell in the South African’s final over with a huge six. He brings up his fourth IPL fifty off just 25 deliveries. Interestingly, Dube’s highest score in the IPL has also come against RCB. TAKEN! And that will be it for Dube. Siraj does well to settle underneath a skier within inches of the rope. Kohli is pumped as well. Moeen comes in to restore the left-right hand combination. Cleanly hit... Moeen hits a six off the second delivery he faces.

RCB’s designated death bowler, Harshal, is in. Slower one and Dube lets it run off the face of his bat and down the third man area. WICKET! That’s the big fish. Conway’s (83 off 45) been yorked as the Zings light up. CSK takes this opportunity to trigger the strategic timeout. Rayudu enters the field of play after the break.

Conway doesn’t quite get a hold of that flat-batted shot to deep midwicket. Just a single. Dube deposits another into the crowd off a freebie from Vyshak. A full toss was always going to be clobbered away. Vyshak with the leg-cutter and this time Conway targets the shorter boundary. These are easy pickings. Four more! This is turning out to be a bit embarrassing for RCB’s newest face in the bowling lineup.

Siraj returns. And that tells you something... du Plessis is desperate to break the flow of runs here. Siraj concedes a wide. Immediately after, Dube hammers a slower delivery down the long-off channel for four. Kohli on the chase of another shot which looks well set to make the ropes. The former Indian skipper, however, keeps it down to a couple. Good thinking from Siraj. Dube is not the best player of the pull and hook shot. The pacer, accordingly, goes for the slower bouncer, but, on this occasion, the CSK batter is quick to read the delivery and swivel to register a six. The 50-run stand comes up.

“Why should Conway have all the fun?” Dube would have thought before sending another maximum onto the roof of the venue. It is raining boundaries here. This is bigger than the last one... 111 metres long!

Conway squeezes one past short third man. Waits for the slower one and guides it through the gap. The grip comes off the handle and Conway has flayed another through the offside. V. Vyshak isn’t liking this one bit. Conway, however, continues the onslaught. Flicked off the pads and into the stands again.

Dube gets a fuller delivery onto the roof now! 101 on the metre scale. WOW. Hasaranga, at long-on, saves three runs for sure.

Back after the strategic timeout. And how! Conway has pulled Hasaranga deep into the stands. BOWLED! Rahane’s stay comes to an end. After two short balls, Hasaranga does him in with the googly. Dube is the new man in. Conway gets to his fifty off 32 balls. Gets a bottom edge and that will be a lucky boundary coming off the bat of the New Zealander.

Time for Harshal to try and pick another wicket. Wide, he messes up his line and sprays one down leg. Bowled cross-seam and Conway unleashes the orthodox loft over midwicket. The Kiwi is in some fine form tonight! Oooh... Conway just manages to clear extra cover stationed near the practice pitches. Rahane gets on top of the final delivery that hit the hard length and it will be four more through fine leg.

The spin twins will be operating in tandem. Hasaranga to bowl from the other end. The pair has raced away to a fifty-run stand off 32 balls. Rahane and Conway runs singles off the first five and steal a couple off the last ball of the over. Has du Plessis hurt himself while fielding? No, he seems to be doing alright.

Time for some spin immediately after the PowerPlay. Maxwell’s into the attack. There is an appeal for LBW off the third delivery from Karthik but Maxwell doesn’t seem to be too confident. Bowled a bit wide outside Conway’s arc, but the Kiwi has managed to muscle this 75m down the ground and into the sightscreen.

Rahane shuffles across to make some room for a drive through the offside. Parnell strays down leg and Rahane punishes him. Flicked disdainfully for a maximum. Didn’t look to be in total control of that shot but it clears the short boundary limits alright. Four more... This time, Rahane targets the deep midwicket region.

V. Vyshak into the attack. Conway goes for the ramp shot again off the shorter delivery. Four it is... Oh, that’s headed for the skies. Short again and Rahane has hit the Chinnaswamy roof! When have we last seen Rahane hit a biggie like that one?

Parnell finds a bit of shape. Conway looks to work it off the face of the bat but in vain. Rahane takes the aerial route. This doesn’t look like it is going to clear the ropes. It lands in no man’s land. Lomror gives it a chase and saves a few precious runs for the team.

This is the first time Siraj has managed to remove Gaikwad in the IPL! Bowled full and onto the pads, the right-handed batter flicks but doesn’t manage to clear the distance. Parnell moves across to his left to pouch an excellent take. Rahane walks in.

Parnell is sharing the new ball. Conway picks up the first boundary of the game. Parnell, searching for the swing, ends up pitching it right in the slot for Conway to work it through midwicket. Cheeky! Conway shuffles across and awkwarly scoops a fuller delivery from the South African pacer.

The umpires are on their way onto the park. Gaikwad and Conway make their way to the middle. du Plessis leads the boys in red and gold.

Gaikwad gets off the mark straightaway with a quick single off Siraj’s bowling. Just to remind everybody, CSK has been the best when it comes to batting inside the PowerPlay overs in IPL 2023 and RCB has had the best bowling performance thus far in the first six overs. Conway is up an running as well with a flick towards square leg. Siraj has just beaten the inside edge of Conway’s blade with a comparatively slower delivery. That was close! Way too close for comfort.

Stay tuned! The live coverage begins shortly...

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (c), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Harshal Patel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Wayne Parnell, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Mohammed Siraj

Chennai Super Kings: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk/c), Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana

RCB wins toss, opts to bowl.

What they said - Faf du Plessis, RCB skipper: Incredible noise... 180-200 will be a nice target. It is quite a small ground and the ball travels, the surface is good and a little bit of dew could help. There are no changes in our playing XI but we have got some tricks up our sleeve. No, (I’m not going to tell you...)

MS Dhoni, CSK captain: The toss matters a bit because this is a venue where it is difficult to contain batters in the second innings. There is dew as well. We need to keep re-evaluating every 3-4 overs on where we stand and what would be a good total to get to. There is one change: Magala is injured and Pathirana comes in. The injuries haven’t been ideal, but that’s what happens because the IPL comes at the end of the cricket season.

RCB - W-L-L-W

CSK - L-W-W-L

• Ravindra Jadeja (CSK) - 18
• Dwayne Bravo (CSK) - 17
• Albie Morkel (CSK) - 16
• Muttiah Muralitharan (RCB, CSK) - 15

• Virat Kohli (RCB) - 993
• MS Dhoni (CSK) - 750
• Suresh Raina (CSK) - 710
• AB de Villiers (RCB) - 399

CSK has the upper hand when it comes to head-to-head numbers against RCB with the MS Dhoni-led side winning 19 of the 30 matches it has played. Bangalore has won 10.

CSK vs RCB Form guide: While RCB won the last encounter, CSK has won the last four clashes.

CSK Predicted XI (Batting first): Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, M.S. Dhoni (c/wk), Dwaine Pretorius, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar

CSK Predicted XI (Bowling first): Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, M.S. Dhoni (c/wk), Dwaine Pretorius, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Tushar Deshpande

Impact Player options: Ambati Rayudu, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Prashant Solanki

RCB Predicted XI (Batting first): Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Mahipal Lomror, Anuj Rawat, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Wayne Parnell

RCB Predicted XI (Bowling first): Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Mahipal Lomror, Shahbaz Ahmed, Wanindu Hasaranga, V. Vyshak, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Wayne Parnell

RCB Impact Player options: Anuj Rawat, V. Vyshak, Siddarth Kaul, Manoj Bhandage, Shahbaz Ahmed

Wicketkeeper: Devon Conway

Batters: Ruturaj Gaikwad (vc), Virat Kohli (c), Faf du Plessis

All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, Glenn Maxwell, Wanindu Hasaranga

Bowlers: Mohammad Siraj, Maheesh Theekshana, Vyshak Vijaykumar

Team Composition: RCB 6:5 CSK |Credits Left: 7

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Mahipal Lomror, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik(w), Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Wayne Parnell, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Mohammed Siraj, Anuj Rawat, David Willey, Akash Deep, Karn Sharma, Suyash Prabhudessai, Manoj Bhandage, Michael Bracewell, Finn Allen, Siddarth Kaul, Sonu Yadav, Rajan Kumar, Avinash Singh, Himanshu Sharma

Chennai Super Kings: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Sisanda Magala, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Mitchell Santner, Shaik Rasheed, Subhranshu Senapati, RS Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Ben Stokes, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, Matheesha Pathirana, Deepak Chahar, Bhagath Varma, Nishant Sindhu

A packed house at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium will raise the roof when ​Royal Challengers Bangalore ​(RCB) takes on ​Chennai Super Kings ​in tonight’s marquee IPL clash.

The traditional rivals from South India will offer a thrill-a-minute fare. A galaxy of stars in both teams will only make the occasion more special.

CSK skipper MS Dhoni, whose appeal cuts across team colours, will command the most attention. Dhoni’s unbeaten 17-ball 32 nearly pulled off a win in the previous match, against Rajasthan Royals.

Even when batting at number eight, Dhoni can turn the match on its head and stir panic in the opposition.

Dhoni is firing despite carrying a knee injury. The wicketkeeper-batter is “managing the injury as best as he can,” CSK batting coach Michael Hussey stated on Saturday.

CSK will be without the services of all-rounder Ben Stokes, who is down with a heel injury. Hussey stated that Stokes will make his return only when fully fit.

RCB enters this fixture on the back of a win over Delhi Capitals in Bengaluru on Saturday. RCB pacer V. Vyshak, playing his first IPL match, impressed with a three-wicket haul. He will relish the chance to once again take in the plaudits on his home turf.

On the batting front, Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell pose a serious threat to the CSK attack.

This heavyweight battle is bound to set pulses racing.