The season opener of the Indian Premier League 2019 was between the two heavyweights of the tournament and everyone expected it to be a cracker of a contest. But this turned out to be a rather one-sided affair, where Chennai Super Kings maintained their dominance over their Southern rivals Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The spin heavy Chennai bowling lineup blew RCB’s star-studded batting lineup. Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir and Ravindra Jadeja grabbed eight wickets together and dismissed Bengaluru for 70 runs. The chase was not looking a cake walk for CSK initially but after handling Yuzvendra Chahal calmly, Chennai chased the target down in 17.4 over and won the game by seven wickets.
Also Read: Harbhajan Singh praised ‘spin-twin’
Let’s have a look at the Hits and Flops from the IPL opener;
Hits
Harbhajan Singh (CSK)
The veteran spinner caught RCB batsmen in a web. Bhajji dismissed Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Moeen Ali with the ball to suck the life out of Bengaluru’s batting. His spell of 4-0-20-3 was enough to turn the match in Chennai’s favor. Harbhajan was adjudged the Man of the Match for this sensational bowling display.
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Imran Tahir (CSK)
The leg-spinner flew directly from South Africa to Chennai and played the game straight away. Tahir didn’t allow RCB to overcome after the early riots ran by Harbhajan Singh and ended the match with figures of 4-1-9-3.
Parthiv Patel (RCB)
Parthiv Patel saw every batsman come in and out. He opened the batting with Virat Kohli and played till the last. However, he couldn’t manage to score big but his 29 runs are the highest score in this low scoring contest. Parthiv tried best to form a partnership but was not getting help from the other end. He was the last man to dismiss in the 18th over of RCB’s innings.
