Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru: IPL – as it happened? Defending champions Chennai Super Kings open the Indian Premier League 2024 season with a six-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. New Zealand’s Rachin Ravindra top scored on IPL debut with 38 for CSK while Anuj Raway salvaged the RCB innings with an unbeaten 48. Chennai beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets in a final-ball victory in last year’s rain-reduced final. This is the 17th edition of the IPL and the Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have each won the title a record five times. Bengaluru have reached the final on three occasions but are yet to be crowned champions. Goodbye for Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bengaluru That’s it from our live coverage of the opening match of IPL 2024. The defending champions open with a six-wicket win with eight balls to spare. Rachin Ravindra top scored for CSK on his IPL debut with 37. Anuj Rawat lead a recovery from 77-5 for RCB with his unbeaten 48. Mustafizur Rahman was the start with the ball as the left armer claimed 4-24 off his four overs to force the early innings collapse by CSK. We hope you enjoyed the live action and we’ll be back on Saturday with Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad so do join us for that if you can. For now though, from me Kevin Hand, its goodbye but don’t forget you can stay up-to-date with all our sports coverage, news and features here. Rachin Ravindra hails CSK dressing room after top scoring with 37 “It was a pretty complete performance by us on a good wicket,” he told Sky Sports. “This team is very good at slowing the game down and there are such good guys in the dressing room to learn from.” RCB captain Faf du Plessis gives his response “When you play here you fell like you need to get ahead of the game at the start because their spinners get on top in the middle,” he told Sky Sports. “In the end, I thought we were only 15 or 20 runs short.” Chennai Super Kings win by six wickets A pull for six by Dube off Joseph set it up and then two leg byes sealed it. 18 overs. Chennai Super Kings 164-4 Four dot balls from Siraj, but two fours as Dube selects his shots and his side to the verge of victory. Ten to win from 12 balls. 17 overs. Chennai Super Kings 156-4 A costly over and that could and should be that. Joseph concedes 12 with the addition of four byes, as well. Rawat lept to stop the byes, but hurt his finger in the process and there was a long delay as the physio came on. Eighteen needed from 18 balls. 16 overs. Chennai Super Kings 140-4 A good over for CSK as Dube runs Green fine off his hip for four off the second ball and 12 are taken in total even though that was the only boundary. The Australian bowler did help by throwing in a wide. 15 overs. Chennai Super Kings 128-4 Siraj returns and concedes just six runs with two twos and two singles. Forty-six needed from 30. 14 overs. Chennai Super Kings 121-4 Maxwell enters the attack for the first time and is welcomed by a six from Jadeja off the second ball. A little skip was required to smash the ball over long-on. Just a single off the over otherwise. 13 overs. Chennai Super Kings 114-4 Jadeja, the hero of the 2023 final, arrives in the middle to incredible noise. Sixty needed from 42. One partnership should do it from here and it’s still CSK’s to lose. WICKET! Mitchell is out! Chennai Super Kings 110-4 Mitchell pulls Green straight to long-on and falls for 22 from 18. Could RCB find a way back? 12.3 overs bowled. 12 overs. Chennai Super Kings 109-3 No boundary in the over with just seven conceded and it’s 65 to win from 48. A couple of wickets now would make it interesting. A better start for Joseph His first over started with a six. This time, the first three balls concede three singles. Click here to share on social media 11 overs. Chennai Super Kings 99-3 Dube joins Mitchell in the middle as three singles finish out the over following the wicket of Green. Click here to share on social media WICKET! Rahane is gone! Chennai Super Kings 99-3 Green comes into the attack and sees his first ball called a wide, the second was pulled for six and then the third claimed Rahane. Another attempted back foot pick-up, but this one is well claimed by Maxwell on the rope. Rahane falls for 27 off 19. Click here to share on social media Ten overs. Chennai Super Kings 92-2 Dagar continues with his tight line and just four singles are taken. RCB were 75-3 at this stage. Click here to share on social media Nine overs Chennai Super Kings 88-2 Mitchell hammers consecutive sixes back over Karn’s head midway through the over. The first was over long-on and the second long-off. Brilliant from the Kiwi. Eight overs. Chennai Super Kinds 73-2 Dagar enters the attack after the timeout and concedes just two singles. Mitchell is the new batter for CSK. Click here to share on social media WICKET! Ravindra falls! Chennai Super Kings 71-2 Karn drops short and Ravindra makes no mistake. A huge pull for six by the left-hander off the leg spinner. The next ball is another attempted pick-up, but instead, the ball sails down the throat of deep square and Ravindra falls for 37 from 15. Strategic timeout called at the end of the seventh over. Click here to share on social media Over to Karn The leg spinner concedes just two off his first three balls. Click here to share on social media Six overs. Chennai Super Kings 62-1 Over throws to end the over as Rahane dropped a single into the off side and the throw to the non-striker’s end hit the stumps and deflected away. Dayal concedes 13 off the over. RCB were 42-3 at this stage. Click here to share on social media Rahane’s first boundary is a six The right-hander hammers Dayal for a six over deep extra-cover. An extraordinary drive. Click here to share on social media Five overs. Chennai Super Kings 49-1 Joseph gets out of the over with two singles, a two and a wide. There was one huge appeal for LBW from the bowler, but the ball clearly hit the edge. No review was used. Click here to share on social media Joseph is welcomed with a six The West Indies seamer drops short with his first ball and the left-handed Ravindra pulls over deep square. Click here to share on social media WICKET! Gaikwad edges. Chennai Super Kings 38-1 Dayal drifted onto the pads of the right-handed Gaikwad and the ball flicked fine for four more. The odds were stacking against RCB by Dayal sends a length ball across the right hander with the final delivery of the over and it’s nicked to Green at slip. The CSK’s skipper falls for 15 from 15. End of the fourth over. Click here to share on social media Onto the pads again Dayal drifts onto the legs of Ravindra and the ball is flicked fine for another boundary. Click here to share on social media Three overs. Chennai Super Kings 28-0 Ravindra top edges a six to end the over. Siraj is less than impressed, but this is a strong start to the chase. Click here to share on social media Ravinda runs Siraj fine for four The seamer drifts onto the pads, and the ball is flicked fine. A wide preceded the delivery to start the over. An expensive start. Click here to share on social media Two overs. Chennai Super Kings 13-0 Dayal recovers the over to only concede a single off the second ball following the boundary. Gaikwad plays out four dot balls thereafter to the delight of Dayal’s teammates. Click here to share on social media Ravindra edges for four The opener faces his first ball as Dayal enters the attack, and a thick inside edge runs fine for four. Click here to share on social media ) One over. Chennai Super Kings 8-0 Gaikwad finds four more before the over is out as he flays a wide ball in the air through backward point. Click here to share on social media Chennai Super Kings start their chase with a boundary Siraj takes the new ball for RCB but drops short, and Gaikwad pulls ferociously for four. What a start from the new CSK skipper. Click here to share on social media They’re nearly ready to go again in Chennai The interval entertainment is over, and the teams will be back with us soon. Can RCB win on this ground for the first time? Click here to share on social media The Women’s IPL produced a thriller Royal Challengers Bangaluru were only a week ago celebrating lifting the Women’s Premier League. Dehli Capitals were skittled for only 113 before RCB wrapped up an eight-wicket win. Click here to share on social media Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Dinesh Karthik gives his reaction “I felt a bit rusty but was getting there in the end,” he told Sky Sports. “I was trying hard, we were in a pressure situation in the middle of the innings having lost wickets. “It’s a good pitch and I wouldn’t be surprised if we are a little light with the bat, so need to bowl and field out of our skins.” Click here to share on social media Royal Challengers Bengaluru post 173-6 It’s fantastic comeback, but is it enough? From 88-5 in the 12th, that’s a decent recovery. Click here to share on social media MS Dhoni executes a runout off the final ball Karthik swings and misses and Rawat runs and dives, but is run out for 49 by an under-arm throw from MS Dhoni. Click here to share on social media Karthik edges for four A big swing and the ball flies to deep-third. One to come. Click here to share on social media A dot ball off the third Rawat misses out as the ball hits the pads, having pitched outside leg. Click here to share on social media Karthik scoops a single The right-hander wrong-foots MS Dhoni, but only gets one. Click here to share on social media A wide for a bouncer Deshpande drops too short. Click here to share on social media Another ball is pushed outside off The second ball of the over also goes through to MS Dhoni. Karthik reviews this one as well, but it’s upheld once more by the TV umpire. Click here to share on social media A dot ball off the first legitimate ball Karthik moves across but misses the ball and a wide is not signalled. Karthik reviews, but it was inside the second tramline. Click here to share on social media Deshpande opens the final over with a wide A wide yorker was attempted, but it’s too far outside off. Click here to share on social media 19 overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 164-5 Karthik clips the fifth ball of the over fine for four. The sixth ball is a wide from Mustafizur. Just a single, dug out of the blockhole, ends the over and Karthik keeps the strike with 33* from 21 to his name. Rawat has 48 from 24. The partnership moves to 86 off 47 deliveries. Click here to share on social media Rawat is upstaging Karthik Where Karthik got underneath his attempted six down the ground, Rawat dances to the pitch and gets close enough to lift the length ball back over Mustafizur’s head for six. Click here to share on social media Karthik clears the fielder but only just The right-hander attempts to hit a six back down the ground off Mustafizur’s first ball of the 19th, but he gets right underneath it. Mid-off retreats, but can’t reach the ball before it bounces and the batters take two. Click here to share on social media 18 overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 148-5 Deshpande concedes 25 off the over as Rawat sends another six over the boundary off the fifth ball. This one was into the slot and hit over long-on. The last ball is cleverly hooked fine for four more. Click here to share on social media The biggest six of the innings so far Rawat picks up Deshpande and slams the right-arm seamer over square with an almighty arc of the bat. Extraordinary swing. Click here to share on social media A wide, a six and the fifty partnership Deshpande barely lands the ball on the cut strip as he reacted to Karthik stepping across the crease. The next ball is on a length and flat batted back over the bowler’s head for six, which brings up the fifty partnership with Rawat. Click here to share on social media 17 overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 123-5 A good recovery from Mustafizur with just two singles and a wide conceded in the four balls that remained of the over following the six. A trademark slower ball finishes the over and deceives Rawat as it passes through to MS Dhoni. Kartik has moved to 19 from 15 while Rawat has 25 from 17. The charge starts now. Click here to share on social media Rawat hooks Mustafizur fine for four The left-arm seamer slams in a bouncer across the left-hander, who guides the ball fine as he swivels in the crease. 16 overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 116-5 Karthik started the over with four and finished it with a six. Theekshana delivered a full toss and the right-hander slammed a low pick-up shot over a wide long-on. The spinner finishes with figures of 0-36 from his four overs. Click here to share on social media Four more for Karthik The right-hander sweeps the first ball of Theekshana’s final over for four. Click here to share on social media 15 overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 102-5 Boundaries bookend Chahar’s final overs as an upper cut by Rawat soars over MS Dhoni to finish. The first was a full toss Rawat powered through the covers. It was the first boundary for 29 balls at that stage. Click here to share on social media 14 overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 90-5 Four singles, a two and a leg bye off the 14th. Jadeja is bowled out now with 0-21 from his four overs. Click here to share on social media 13 overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 83-5 Just four singles off the over. RCB will have to get moving soon, or they’ll be a long way short of a par score. Click here to share on social media Deshpande returns and concedes just two singles off the first three balls The right-arm seamer went for nine in his first over. Click here to share on social media 12 overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 79-5 A delay to the end of the over as a replacement ball had to be found after Green was bowled. Kartik and Rawat are the new batters with the former taking a single off the last ball of the over to keep the strike. Click here to share on social media WICKET! Green is bowled! Royal Challengers Bengaluru 78-5 Mustafizur and CSK are on fire. Green is bowled for 18 from 22 balls as the Bangladesh bowler delivers a slower fall out of the back of the hand and the Australian misses an attempted cut off the stumps. This is carnage. Click here to share on social media WICKET! Kohli falls to a stunner! Royal Challengers Bengaluru 77-4 Kohli attempts to pull Mustifzur for six this time, but the right-hander is caught by a stunning double act on the rope. A slide and catch is flicked to Ravindra while his teammate slides into the rope. Kohli falls for 21 from 20 balls faced. Click here to share on social media 11 overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 76-3 Kohli plays out three dot balls to end Jadeja’s over. Just one run off it. The partnership is 35 off 33 balls. Click here to share on social media Jadeja to Kohli Green finds a single off the third ball of the over and now, the match-up everyone wants to see. Click here to share on social media 10 overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 75-3 The six came off the second ball, but Theekshana gets out of the over without another boundary. Just a two and four singles otherwise. Click here to share on social media Virat Kohli with the first six of IPL 2024 Theekshana drops only a fraction short and Kohli pulls hard for the first six of the tournament. Click here to share on social media Nine overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 63-3 A boundary at last as Green late-cuts Jadeja midway through the over. Four singles are taken otherwise. Click here to share on social media Eight overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 55-3 Seven off Theekshana’s second over but no boundary for 22 deliveries, which is extraordinary this early in the innings. Click here to share on social media Seven overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 48-3 Jadeja is thrown the ball and the spinner concedes just three singles and a two off his opening over. RCB will be very careful now with that wicket column in mind. Click here to share on social media Six overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 42-3 End of the powerplay and a stark difference to the start of it. Three wickets fall for one run with only a single registered in the sixth over. Green is the new batter for RCB. Click here to share on social media WICKET! Maxwell is out! Royal Challengers Bengaluru 42-3 Chahar picks up “Big Show”! A third ball duck for the Australian as he edges the seamer to MS Dhoni having attempted a late dab to deep-third. Unbelievable comeback from CSK. Click here to share on social media WICKET! Patidar is out! Royal Challengers Bengaluru 41-2 Two in four balls for Mustafizur! The left-arm seamer angles a length delivery across Patidar, who edges to Dhoni to fall for a third-ball duck. End of the fifth over. Click here to share on social media WICKET! Du Plessis departs! Royal Challengers Bengaluru 41-1 The captain’s cameo comes to an end with a cut to point to fall for 35 off 23. Mustafizur strikes with his third ball, which was a slower one. Click here to share on social media Four overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 37-0 Theekshana is thrown the ball and restores some control. Just three singles and a leg bye in the spinner’s opening over. Click here to share on social media Three overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 33-0 Another three boundaries followed the opening ball of the over as du Plessis cashes in. The second of the over was dismissively driven off the back foot over mid-off. The last two were a cut and a pull. Click here to share on social media MS Dhoni defies the years again The boundary ball is followed by a bouncer, and MS Dhoni leaps to prevent the ball flying for four. Great leap and one-handed stop by the keeper but wide signalled. Click here to share on social media Four more to start the over Charar overpitches, and du Plessis makes no mistake again as he powers a drive over mid-off. Click here to share on social media Two overs. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 16-0 Three boundaries for du Plessis now and two in the over. The second was punched hard off the back foot. Nine off the over as the skipper takes a single off the last ball again to keep the strike. Click here to share on social media 4h ago (14:42 GMT) Great stop by MS Dhoni An inside edge from du Plessis wrong-foots MS Dhoni, but what a recovery by the 42-year-old to prevent even a run. Click here to share on social media Two fours in three balls for du Plessis Deshpande bowls the second over, and the right-arm seamer drifts onto du Plessis’s legs with his first ball. No mistake from the RCB skipper as he times the ball sweetly backward of square. Click here to share on social media One over. Royal Challengers Bengaluru 7-0 The first boundary of the tournament comes up off the fifth ball with a sumptuous cover drive by du Plessis. A single is taken last ball of the over, and the skipper keeps the strike. Click here to share on social media 4h ago (14:37 GMT) Huge swing both ways for Chahar The first few balls swing away from the right-handers from the right-arm seamer. The third legitimate ball swings sharply in to de Plessis, who defends. Click here to share on social media Virat Kohli scores the first run of IPL 2024 The right-hander waits on the first legitimate ball and eases a single just past point. Click here to share on social media The first ball of IPL 2024 is a wide The ball swung away from Kohli, who thought about throwing the bat at the ball, but the swing kept on taking it away. Click here to share on social media 5h ago (14:33 GMT) Deepak Chahar will open the bowling for Chennai Super Kings We are finally ready. Click here to share on social media Virat Kohli and Faf de Plessis open the batting for Royal Challengers Bengaluru There’s no sign of the umpires, though. The wait goes on. Click here to share on social media The start will be slightly delayed as the national anthem begins Although trying to stick tight to the scheduled start time, the opening IPL match will be slightly delayed. The two teams have lined up for the Indian national anthem, and we are nearly ready to go. Click here to share on social media The Royal Challengers Bengaluru team sheet Royal Challengers Bengaluru: F du Plessis (c), V Kohli, RM Patidar, GJ Maxwell, C Green, KD Karthik (w), Anuj Rawat, KV Sharma, AS Joseph, MJ Dagar, Mohammed Siraj Click here to share on social media The Chennai Super Kings team sheet Chennai Super Kings: RD Gaikwad (c), R Ravindra, AM Rahane, DJ Mitchell, RA Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (w), DL Chahar, M Theekshana, TU Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman Click here to share on social media Royal Challengers Bengaluru win the toss Faf du Plessis has won the toss and elected to bat. Toss delayed The opening ceremony appears to have overrun, so the toss is delayed. The start time remains the same. Click here to share on social media The schedule for IPL 2024 Much like the configuration of the teams, the tournament’s schedule has been changed on a few occasions. The league started in a round-robin format, but it was changed to a group format in its last edition and this season all 10 teams will play each other twice with the return of the round-robin format. The top two teams at the end of the league games will play the first qualifier while the third- and fourth-placed teams will face off in the eliminator. The winner of the first qualifier will book a place in the final, while the loser will play the winner of the eliminator in the second qualifier. The winner of this match will become the second team to qualify for the final. Can MS Dhoni defy Father Time (again) to deliver Chennai a repeat title? No player has the Midas touch in the IPL quite like MS Dhoni. The evergreen Indian wicketkeeper-batsman has won the tournament a record five times in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023. Rumours are circulating that the 2024 IPL will be the 42-year-old’s final go-around in the lucrative competition – but we have heard those rumours before. Incredibly, Dhoni has not played a single professional game since the Super Kings defeated the Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2023 final 10 months ago. If Dhoni is to bring Chennai another title this year, he will certainly have a strong arsenal of players to do it: Ravindra Jadeja, Daryl Mitchell and Moeen Ali headline an impressively credentialed Super Kings outfit. If Dhoni does clinch a sixth IPL title, it will add to the already remarkable legacy of a player who has experienced an unprecedented second cricketing career peak as an IPL winner after his hugely successful Indian international career, which ended in 2017. If this is indeed his career farewell, Dhoni —one of India’s all-time favourite cricketers — can expect incredible support throughout the country during the IPL. Who are past IPL champions? This is the 17th edition of the IPL and the Super Kings and Mumbai Indians have each won the title a staggering five times. No team has ever won back-to-back IPL trophies – could this be Chennai’s time and with it a record sixth crown? Chennai Super Kings: 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021, 2023 Mumbai Indians: 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020 Kolkata Knight Riders: 2012, 2014 Rajasthan Royals: 2008 Sunrisers Hyderabad: 2016 Gujarat Titans: 2022 Deccan Chargers: 2009 Can Virat Kohli finally capture the Indian Premier League title? Virat Kohli is a player who has won just about everything there is to win in world cricket — except an IPL title. The Indian batsman has played in all 16 IPL seasons for Royal Challengers Bangalore, agonisingly finishing tournament runners-up in 2009, 2011 and 2016. He is the all-time leading run-scorer in IPL history. With Kohli skipping the recent home series against England for personal reasons, some believe the clock is also ticking on the 35-year-old’s IPL career — could 2024 be the iconic batsman’s final season? This year’s event represents one of the best opportunities for Kohli to win the IPL. He is joined in the 2024 Bangalore squad by the formidable Aussie talents of Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green, South African captain Faf du Plessis and fast-bowling Indian teammate Mohammed Siraj. An IPL crown for Kohli would be a perfect final chapter to the career of one the greatest cricket players ever. Introducing the Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangaluru captains India legend MS Dhoni handed over the captaincy of Chennai to Ruturaj Gaikwad in a surprise move on Thursday. Gaikwad’s opposite number for the opening match is South Africa’s Faf du Plessis. Overall, there has been some chopping and changing ahead of this season, with a new leader taking charge of the joint most successful team Mumbai Indians. Below are the teams and their captains but for all the tournament info click here: Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer Lucknow Super Giants: KL Rahul Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson Royal Challengers Bangaluru: Faf du Plessis Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins The venue for the opening match The teams are set and so is the stadium. The M A Chidambaram Stadium is the venue for the opening match. You can read more about the venues in our full tournament guide to IPL 2024 here. Wme to our live coverage of Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the season-opening match between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai starts at 8pm (14:30 GMT). Defending champions Chennai beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets in a dramatic final last year. I’m Kevin Hand and, as we build up to the launch of the 17th IPL, I’ll be taking you through that match and all the other news and analysis ahead of our text commentary. Stick with us for all the acti