Chennai, March 29 Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Rajat Patidar hailed Josh Hazlewood's twin strikes an hour early in Chennai Super Kings innings as a "game changer" that helped his team breach Fortress Chepauk for the first time since 2008 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Friday.
"If I talk about this match, it was a good total on this surface because the ball was stopping a bit and it wasn't easy for batters to hit fours and sixes. It's always special playing in Chepauk because of the fans, the way they support their teams," he said.
After Patidar, who was dropped thrice, contributed a vital half-century that helped RCB reach a challenging score of 196/7 in 20 overs, Hazlewood sent back Rahul Tripathi and Ruturaj Gaikwad in his first over to give his team a fine start. CSK failed to recover from those early blows and were soon down to 75/5 as Yash Dayal and Liam Livingstone struck a couple of blows each to add to CSK's woes.
In the end, CSK could manage only 146/8 in with Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni hitting a couple of big ones in the death overs when everything looked over. They slumped to a 50-run defeat, their worst-ever at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. This was RCB's first win at CSK's home ground since the inaugural edition in 2008.
It was the first time in IPL history that RCB have won their first two matches and Patidar gave credit to his bowlers for making it possible.
Talking about Hazlewood's early wickets, Patidar said, "It was game-changing because we got two-three wickets in the first six overs. Amazing to see how they kept it on the hard length because the ball wasn't coming on to the bat easily."
He said his spinners too bowled superbly and singled out Livingstone for praise. Patidar, who changed his bowlers regularly, said, "This track was pretty helpful for spinners so I was just keeping it in my mind that I could use my spinners at the early stage. Especially, Livingstone, the way he came in and bowled four overs was incredible."
The RCB skipper said his knock was crucial in the final analysis. He said he attempted to stay at the crease for as long as possible.
"I think it was very important because we were targeting 200 because that wouldn't be easy to chase. My goal was clear that as long as I was there, I would maximize every ball," he added.
CSK will now rush to Guwahati for a clash with Rajasthan Royals on Sunday while RCB will return home to wait for a meeting with Gujarat Titans on April 2 at the M.Chinnasway Stadium.
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