The 24th match of the TATA IPL 2023 season was played between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on 17th April 2023. Chennai Super Kings emerged victorious in a thrilling match, winning by 8 runs. Batting first, CSK posted a mammoth total of 226/6, thanks to attacking fifties from Devon Conway (83 off 45) and Shivam Dube (52 off 27). In reply, RCB started off aggressively, with Glenn Maxwell (76 off 36) and Faf Du Plessis (62 off 33) smashing the bowlers all around the park, but ultimately fell short.
Chasing 227, RCB got off to a poor start, losing Virat Kohli early in the innings. However, Maxwell and Du Plessis went on the counter-attack, with Maxwell smacking two sixes off Akash Singh in the third over and Du Plessis hitting three fours and three sixes as they amassed 47 runs from three overs. RCB reached 75/2 at the end of Powerplay. Jadeja brought some calm for CSK with just six runs in his first over.
Maxwell though sort of made it up in the next two overs cracking a four & two sixes to make it 24 off two overs. Du Plessis then brought up his fifty off 23 balls. Maxwell brought up his fifty, off 24 balls, in style with two fours in a row off Pathirana which was followed by a massive 94m six over the deep square leg as RCB reached 121/2 at the end of 10 overs.
Theekshana had the chance to break the partnership in the next over but he dropped a tough caught and bowled chance of Du Plessis when on 52. Theekshana made up for it as he had the big wicket of Maxwell in his next over. The Australian batter went for a swipe across the line but got a top edge high in the sky and Dhoni pouched a very good catch.
Moeen Ali then dismissed Du Plessis after being hit for two sixes in the over, as the equation came down to 68 needed off 6 overs. Dinesh Karthik then took over the mantle and thumped three fours and a six. In between, there was drama as he was dropped by Gaikwad but two deliveries later, Theekshana made sure he didn't make any mistake as Deshpande sent back Karthik on 28(14).
RCB sent Suyash Prabhudessai as their Impact Player, replacing Siraj. With 35 needed off 18, Pathirana struck off the first ball of the 18th over, having Shahbaz caught at long off. He bowled an excellent over, giving away just four runs to bring the equation to 31 off 12.
The pressure was mounting, and Deshpande dismissed Parnell after bowling a wide off the first ball of the penultimate over. With 28 needed off 9, Prabhudessai smashed a six over deep mid-wicket and then scampered for a couple off the next.
The last ball brought just a single as they took 12 off the over.
With 19 required off the last over, Pathirana gave away just two singles off the first two balls, but then Prabhudessai unleashed a reverse scoop over the third man for a six to bring it down to 11 needed off three. However, Pathirana bowled an excellent yorker to deny any boundary on the next ball. Prabhudessai managed to hit a couple of runs off the last ball, but it was not enough as CSK won by eight runs.
Overall, it was an exciting encounter that went down to the wire. Conway's knock and the partnership between Maxwell and du Plessis were the standout performances, but it was Pathirana's excellent bowling in the last over that sealed the deal for CSK. With this win, CSK move up to the second spot in the points table, while RCB slipped down to fourth.