Harbhajan Singh rolled back years to show the relevance of a finger spinner in the shorter format as defending champions Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 7 wickets in the opening encounter of Indian Premier League on Saturday.
On a tricky pitch that assisted slow bowlers, RCB were shot out for 70 in 17.1 overs, a target that CSK achieved in 17.4 overs. RCB in defeat maintained their inglorious record against CSK and also had the ignominy of ending with the sixth lowest total in the league. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s move to open with Harbhajan (3/20 in 4 overs) paid rich dividends as he removed rival skipper Virat Kohli (6) in the fourth over and RCB never recovered from that early blow.
Here’s a look at the statistical highlights from the match -
- Harbhajan Singh equalled Ashish Nehra’s record for the most wickets against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. The off-spinner has picked up 23 wickets in 22 matches, while Nehra took 23 wickets in 13 matches against RCB.
- Yuzvendra Chahal equalled Fidel Edwards and Ashish Nehra’s record for most economical spell (only four-over spells considered) in the IPL. The leg-spinner conceded just six runs in his four-over spell and picked up one wicket. Edwards and Nehra set the record in the 2009 season.
{{/usCountry}}- Yuzvendra Chahal equalled Fidel Edwards and Ashish Nehra’s record for most economical spell (only four-over spells considered) in the IPL. The leg-spinner conceded just six runs in his four-over spell and picked up one wicket. Edwards and Nehra set the record in the 2009 season.
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- The Royal Challengers Bangalore recorded the lowest score against Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. The Chennai Super Kings had bowled out Delhi Daredevils for 83 runs in 2013.
- Suresh Raina, who scored 19 runs in this match, became the first player to score 5000 runs in the IPL. He has scored 5004 runs in 177 matches at an average of 34.27.
- The Chennai Super Kings recorded their seventh consecutive victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL. RCB are yet to win a match against CSK in Chennai since 2008.