IPL 2024: The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 is underway, with a couple of exciting games and some easy victories. The teams that have won are the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Chennai Super Kings, Gujarat Titans, Kolkata Knight Riders, Punjab Kings, and Rajasthan Royals. The Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Lucknow Super Giants are yet to make an impact.
Mustafizur Rahman’s four-wicket haul on the opening night helped CSK easily defeat RCB. MI kept up their awful trend of dropping season openers in the meantime. Both the KKR vs. SRH match and the Monday night special between RCB and PBKS were thrilling to watch.
All of these matches, as well as the outcomes that have followed, have been won by the home team; this has been the case in Chepauk, Mullanpur, Eden Gardens, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, and now Bengaluru. Now, it will be up to CSK to continue the trend when they take on Gujarat Titans on March 26.
The Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated the Punjab Kings by four wickets on Monday night at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium thanks to a fine half-century from Virat Kohli on a difficult pitch.
Also Read: Rishabh Pant fizzles out during emotional comeback
RCB had been set a target of 177, and Kohli (77, 49b, 11×4, 2×6) led the chase to near-perfection as they crossed the finish line with four balls remaining to record their first victory of the season.
RCB needed 47 from 24 balls when Kohli fell. From there, they were carried across the rope by “Impact Player” Mahipal Lomror (17 not out from 8 balls) and Dinesh Karthik (28 not out off 10 balls) playing some intelligent cricket.
The fact that the greatest partnership for RCB on a sticky surface was a 43-run partnership between Kohli and Rajat Patidar (18, 18b) for the third wicket, is indicative of this. Prolific players like Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green have trouble moving on in other places.
Earlier, the pragmatism of captain Shikhar Dhawan was the bedrock on which Punjab Kings built their 176 for six.
Dhawan (45, 37b), Jitesh Sharma (27, 20b) and Prabhsimran Singh (25, 17b) were the main contributors for the Kings after RCB opted to bowl first.
