diff --git a/examples/cassandra/cassandra-blueprint.yaml b/examples/cassandra/cassandra-blueprint.yaml
index 0afb576a35..b924ae7162 100644
--- a/examples/cassandra/cassandra-blueprint.yaml
+++ b/examples/cassandra/cassandra-blueprint.yaml
@@ -91,6 +91,34 @@ actions:
     inputArtifactNames:
       - params
     phases:
+    - func: KubeExec
+      name: waitForConnectionReady
+      args:
+        namespace: "{{ .StatefulSet.Namespace }}"
+        pod: "{{ index .StatefulSet.Pods 0 }}"
+        command:
+          - bash
+          - -o
+          - pipefail
+          - -c
+          - |
+            timeout=300
+            while true
+            do
+              VAR=$((cqlsh -u cassandra -p $CASSANDRA_PASSWORD -e "DESCRIBE keyspaces;" --request-timeout=300) 2>&1)
+              if [[ $VAR != *"Unable to connect to any servers"* ]]
+              then
+                break
+              fi
+              if [[ $timeout -le 0 ]]
+              then
+                 echo "Timed out waiting for cqlsh to configure.."
+                 exit 1
+              fi
+              sleep 2
+              timeout=$((timeout-2))
+            done
+            nodetool scrub
     - func: ScaleWorkload
       name: shutdownPod
       args:
diff --git a/pkg/app/cassandra.go b/pkg/app/cassandra.go
index 5c41e20994..1d0ec78337 100644
--- a/pkg/app/cassandra.go
+++ b/pkg/app/cassandra.go
@@ -57,11 +57,11 @@ func NewCassandraInstance(name string) App {
 			Chart:    "cassandra",
 			RepoName: helm.BitnamiRepoName,
 			Values: map[string]string{
-				"image.registry":       "ghcr.io",
-				"image.repository":     "kanisterio/cassandra",
-				"image.tag":            "v9.99.9-dev",
-				"image.pullPolicy":     "Always",
-				"cluster.replicaCount": "1",
+				"image.registry":   "ghcr.io",
+				"image.repository": "kanisterio/cassandra",
+				"image.tag":        "v9.99.9-dev",
+				"image.pullPolicy": "Always",
+				"replicaCount":     "1",
 			},
 		},
 	}
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ func (cas *CassandraInstance) Reset(ctx context.Context) error {
 func (cas *CassandraInstance) Initialize(ctx context.Context) error {
 	// create the keyspace
 	createKS := []string{"sh", "-c", fmt.Sprintf("cqlsh -u cassandra -p $CASSANDRA_PASSWORD -e \"create keyspace "+
-		"restaurants with replication  = {'class':'SimpleStrategy', 'replication_factor': 3};\" --request-timeout=%s", cqlTimeout)}
+		"restaurants with replication  = {'class':'SimpleStrategy', 'replication_factor': 1};\" --request-timeout=%s", cqlTimeout)}
 	_, stderr, err := cas.execCommand(ctx, createKS)
 	if err != nil {
 		return errors.Wrapf(err, "Error %s while creating the keyspace for application.", stderr)