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Royal Challengers Bengaluru 218 for 5 (du Plessis 54, Kohli 47, Patidar 41, Green 38, Thakur 2-61) beat Chennai Super Kings 191 for 7 (Ravindra 61, Jadeja 42*, Dayal 4-42) by 27 runs
Royal Challengers Bengaluru completed their fairytale comeback in the ongoing Indian Premier League season, securing the playoff spot with a 27-run win over Chennai Super Kings at Bengaluru on Saturday.
RCB is in fourth place with seven wins and seven losses, with 14 points. CSK is in the fifth spot with seven wins and seven losses, but they have slid down to fifth due to a lower net-run rate.
In the run-chase of 219 runs, and an additional responsibility to score at least 201 runs to achieve playoff qualification, CSK was off to a poor start as skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was dismissed for a golden duck by Glenn Maxwell. RCB got the wicket on the very first ball of the innings.
The duo of Rachin Ravindra and Daryl Mitchell, two New Zealand stars, attempted to rebuild the innings. However, a poor shot by Mitchell gave RCB his wicket for just four runs. Yash Dayal took the wicket, with Virat Kohli getting a catch at mid-off.
Ajinkya Rahane joined forces with Ravindra, keeping the run-rate going with some fine boundaries. CSK reached the 50-run mark in 5.3 overs.
In the ninth over, pacer Lockie Ferguson, removed a well-settled Rahane for 33 in 22 balls, with three fours and a six. CSK is 85/3 in 9.1 overs. Skipper Faf took a catch, tumbling down while taking it.
Ravindra opened the shackles, with some fours and sixes on an over by Lockie. 100 runs came up in 11.2 overs. He also reached his maiden IPL fifty in 31 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes.
However, RCB soon got the important wicket of Ravindra, as he was run out by Mahipal Lomror and Dinesh Karthik for 61 in 37 balls, with five fours and three sixes.
In the 14th over, Cameron Green took the ball and got RCB the huge wicket of a struggling Dube, for seven runs in 15 balls. Lockie took a fine catch at long-on.
RCB continued to get back in the game, getting Santner for three runs, with Faf taking a fine catch at the edge of the ring.
MS Dhoni was the next batter on the crease. Ravindra Jadeja and MS continued to keep CSK in the hunt, reaching the 150-run mark in 16.5 overs.
With some fine boundaries and sixes, Jadeja-MS kept CSK's hopes alive, bringing them to 166/6 in 18 overs, needing 35 runs to secure the playoff spot.
In the last over, the duo of Dhoni and Jadeja brought down the equation to 17 runs in the final over for qualification.
Yash Dayal started the over by conceding a six, but got MS's wicket on the next ball. He was gone for 25 in 13 balls, with three fours and a six.
RCB successfully secured the playoff spot, restricting CSK to 191/7, with Jadeja (42*) and Shardul Thakur (1*) unbeaten.
Dayal (2/42) was the pick of the bowlers for RCB. Lockie, Green, Maxwell, and Siraj took a wicket each.
Earlier, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis' blitzkrieg knocks helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) score 218/5.
After winning the toss, Ruturaj Gaikwad's CSK sent RCB to bat in the first inning.
Virat Kohli (47 runs from 29 balls, 3 fours, and 4 sixes) and Faf du Plessis (54 runs from 39 balls, 3 fours, and 3 sixes) helped RCB get off to a great start.
CSK pacer Tushar Deshpande started the attack in the first inning and gave up only two runs. However, in the second over, CSK's Shardul Thakur gave up 16 runs as RCB batters hammered boundaries.
The opening duo of Kohli and Du Plessis had a great start to the inning. But rain played a spoilsport in the third over, following which RCB lost momentum in the game.
The game started again after a few minutes, but CSK bowlers kept a check on the run rate on Saturday.
In the 10th over, Kohli smashed a six over the mid-wicket against Santner. But in the next ball of the over, Kohli tried to smash the ball over the long-on, but Daryl Mitchell made no mistake to grab the ball. Kohli made 47 runs from 29 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes.
Rajat Patidar replaced Kohli on the field and tried to make a partnership with RCB skipper Du Plessis. In the 11th over, Ravindra Jadeja gave away 20 runs as Du Plessis hammered one four and six fours.
Sooner, Patidar (41 runs from 23 balls, 2 fours, and 4 sixes) started to set on the crease as he hammered a six in the 12th over against Theekshana.
The RCB skipper displayed stupendous skill on the crease; he hammered a 35-ball fifty in the 12th over.
In the 13th over, Du Plessis was unlucky as he was run out by Santner.
Cameron Green replaced the skipper on the crease and did not make Du Plessis' absence felt on the field.
The duo of Patidar and Green played a 50-run partnership in the 17th over, and helped RCB get an upper hand in the game.
Patidar was unlucky, as he was dismissed in the 18th over by Shardul Thakur. The RCB batter tried to smash the ball over the long-on, but it landed on Mitchell's hand. Thakur gave away 16 runs and picked up one wicket in the 18th over.
In the 19th over, Dinesh Karthik (14 runs from 6 balls, 1 four, and 1 six) found an edge and was taken by CSK wicketkeeper MS Dhoni.
Glenn Maxwell (16 runs from 5 balls, 2 fours, and 1 six) replaced Karthik on the crease and smashed a four after smashing it over the keeper in his first ball on the field.
Maxwell had a great start in the final over and slammed a six and four in the third and fourth balls. But on the fifth ball, Thakur removed Maxwell from the crease.
In the last ball of the first inning, no runs were scored, and RCB finished at 218/5, while CSK needed 219 runs to win the match. During the run chase, the Chennai-based franchise needed to score 201 runs to qualify for the play-offs.
Shardul Thakur led the CSK bowling attack as he picked up two wickets in his four-over spell. Deshpande and Santner took one wicket each in their respective spells.
