Inauspicious start for Joseph in RCB loss

CHENNAI, India (CMC):

West Indies strike bowler Alzarri Joseph endured a less-than-memorable start to the Indian Premier League when a superb all-round performance enabled defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets yesterday.

Joseph, who is expected to be a member of the West Indies Twenty20 squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in June in the Caribbean and the United States, conceded 38 in 3.4 wicketless overs, including 12 in the eventual final over of a successful run chase of 174 for CSK in the opening match of the tournament at the Chidambaram Stadium.

CSK got off to a brisk start but they lost their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, caught at first slip for 15 off the RCB Impact Player Yash Dayal in the fourth over.

New Zealander Rachin Ravindra and former India Test captain Ajinkya Rahane then carried forward the momentum, but the introduction of spin brought a wicket for RCB when Karn Sharma got Ravindra caught at deep square leg for 37.

CSK were 92 for two at the halfway stage before Australia all-rounder Cameron Green got a wicket in his first over when he had Rahane caught at deep square leg for 27.

Shivam Dube then walked out as CSK’s Impact Player, replacing Mustafizur Rahman, the RCB bowling hero earlier in the day, but the scoring slowed down a bit, and the pressure got to Mitchell and he fell to Green for 22 in the 13th over trying to increase the tempo.

COMPLETED IN 18.4 OVERS

With 64 needed off 45 balls, Dube, not out on 34, and Ravindra Jadeja, not out on 25, got together, steadied the ship, kept the scoreboard ticking, and then increased the scoring rate in the later stages to complete the chase in 18.4 overs.

Earlier, former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis and Indian batting maestro Virat Kohli shared 41 for the first wicket for CSK before Bangladesh left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahim undermined their batting with a spell of four for 29 from four overs, and they were restricted to 173 for six.

Du Plessis got 35 and Kohli made 21 on his return to playing, following a break over the past two months, but CSK were 99 for three at the halfway stage.

Dinesh Karthik, not out on 38, and top scorer Anuj Rawat, not out on 48, began the resurrection with a cautious approach, but they pressed the accelerator from the 15th over and smashed 83 off the last six overs to propel the hosts to a respectable total.