IPL 2019, Match 1: CSK vs RCB - 4 Men who won the game for CSK

Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Banglore in the first match of IPL 2019. CSK won the toss and elected to bowl first. RCB scored only 70 runs in the first innings, which were chased down by CSK with 7 wickets to spare.

RCB started very slowly and Harbhajan Singh picked up Virat Kohli after the RCB skipper tried to break the shackles. After Harbhajan got Kohli out, RCB just couldn't stitch a partnership and kept losing wickets one after another. RCB bundled out for just 70 runs on the board and CSK had an easy task going into the second innings.

CSK started their innings very slowly and Shane Watson, trying to up the ante, got bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal. Then Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina steadied the ship, before Jadeja and Kedar Jadhav saw the home side to victory. CSK made light work out of RCB today and here are the 4 men who were instrumental in that victory.

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#1 Harbhajan Singh

Harbhajan Singh

The veteran off was at his best against RCB. Harbhajan picked up three priceless wickets of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Moeen Ali. He was the first spinner to extract that extra bit of spin and bounce from the wicket.

His first wicket of Kohli was a long hoop which should have been put away by the Indian skipper, but he found Jadeja in the deep. His second wicket was a soft dismissal when Ali just chipped the ball straight to Harbhajan for a caught and bowled.

Also see: CSK vs RCB head to head

His third wicket was much similar to Virat's dismissal when AB tried to hit a short ball out of the park, but he could only pick out the fielder in the deep. All in all, it was a match-winning performance from Harbhajan.

#2 Imran Tahir

Imran Tahir

Tahir had a brilliant match against RCB. The wicket was turning wildly and the South African took full advantage of it. It didn't start very well for him as he dropped a catch of AB de Villiers but that didn't cost much as he was caught out the very next ball.

Then he came on to bowl and picked up Shivam Dube straight away. The left-hander edged it to Shane Watson in the slip cordon. Then he picked up two more wickets in Navdeep Saini and Yuzvendra Chahal. The South African veteran leg spinner ended with the figures of three for nine runs in his four overs.

#3 Ravindra Jadeja

Ravindra Jadeja

Jadeja also had a decent match and alongside Harbhajan and Tahir, Jadeja ripped through the RCB batting lineup. Jadeja was brilliant on the field as well and it was his brilliant catch that dismissed de Villiers.

He also picked up two wickets on the day. His first one was Colin de Grandhomme and his second one was Umesh Yadav. Colin was caught behind by MS Dhoni while Yadav was bowled. All in all, it was a pretty good all-round performance from the off-spinner.

#4 Ambati Rayudu

Ambati Rayudu

There really wasn't much pressure on Rayudu as CSK had to chase only 71 runs. But the wicket was assisting spin and Rayudu managed to see out the main threat in the RCB bowling attack in the form of Chahal.

Rayudu played a sensible knock, one you expect from an experienced campaigner. He didn't take any risks against the spinners and hit an odd boundary or two against the seamers. He ended with a score of 28 runs from 42 balls.

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