BENGALURU: Thanks to Suresh Raina's blitzkreig, Chennai Super Kings post a challenging 181 for 8 after being put into bat by Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.
Suresh Raina (62, 4x4, 6x6) off 32 balls laid the foundation for what should been a formidable total. But left-arm spinner Yezuvendra Chahal dismissed Raina and M S Dhoni in quick succession while Iqbal Abdulla scalped Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo to bring RCB right back into the game.
Raina's aggression, as he took the aerial route more often, more than compensated for the early loss of Brendon McCullum who departed in the very second over.
Raina and Smith added 54 runs for the second wicket and then the south paw put on 58 runs with skipper M S Dhoni.
Raina was particularly severe on Chahal and Iqbal Abdulla. He stepped out to them and dispatched the deliveries, no matter what the length, a long way into the stands for towering sixes. His attacking mood was such that Chahal or Abdulla found it perplexing to produce flighted or even flatter deliveries. Raina clouted Chahal for three sixes in one over before being caught by Rossouw at long off as he attempted another maximum.
Dhoni, Jadeja and Bravo did not last long but South African F du Plessis extricated them out of a tight spot with an unbeaten 33 off 18 deliveries.
After a 25-minute delay due to slight showers, Chennai Super Kings began on a rather shaky start after being asked to bat but recovered well enough. Brendon McCullum was gone caught by Rilee Rossouw in the second over off Yezuvendra Chahal but Suresh Rania and Dwayne Smith produced some big hits to ensure that Chennai posted a good looking 45 for 1 in five overs.
Smith had made a brisk 39 off 29 balls with three fours and three sixes but was caught by Dinesh Karthik as he tried to drive and got a thick outside edge outside the off stump of Harshal Patel.
RCB made three changes from the last game, leaving out Chris Gayle, Abu Nechim and Varun Aaron and bringing in Australian left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc, Sarfaraz Khan and Harshap Patel. The 17-year-old Sarfaraz from Mumbai will be making his IPL debut. CSK played with an unchanged line-up from their last defeat to Rajasthan Royals.