Chennai Super Kings warmed up for the Indian Premier League playoffs with an emphatic eight-wicket victory at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Chasing a modest target of 154 set by Bangalore largely due to Virat Kohli’s 49-ball-73, the Chennai batsmen made minimum fuss as a collective effort saw them cross the line with 14 balls to spare.
Faf du Plessis revelled in the role of an opener, scoring an unbeaten 54 off 43 balls and stitched fruitful partnerships of 57 for the first wicket with Dwayne Smith (34) and an unbroken 75 runs with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the third wicket.
Dhoni smacked four fours and three sixes in his 49 off 28 balls. while du Plessis hit three fours and three sixes. The Chennai captain was severe on the left-arm spinners as two of his three sixes came in Yuvraj Singh’s fourth over and the other was hit off Shadab Jakati. Both Dhoni and du Plessis enjoyed reprieves though.
Du Plessis, on 33, went down the track to Yuzvendra Chahal and the ball brushed his glove and then lobbed off the pads before wicketkeeper Yogesh Takawale claimed the catch.
The fielders were confident but the umpire turned down the appeal. Takawale had himself to blame though when he missed an easy stumping off Dhoni, on 15, as the ball slipped between his legs and rolled for four byes.
Dhoni took 22 off that over from Yuvraj and after that, Chennai knocked off the remaining 22 off just 10 balls. Bangalore in the end were short by plenty.
They dropped an out-ofsorts Chris Gayle and went with the experimental opening duo of Rilee Rossouw and Takawale. The ploy didn’t work as they lost their top three for 33 and it was down to Kohli and Yuvraj to practically build from the start.
Yuvraj made a start, got to 25 before he holed out to deep midwicket. Left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra (3- 33) made an impressive return to the Chennai side after featuring in their first game in Abu Dhabi last month.
The victory brought an end to Chennai’s three-match losing streak but it could only land them a third place, which means they will play the Eliminator with the fourthplaced team at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, on Wednesday.
Dhoni had a injury scare when he twisted his ankle during his innings but the Chennai captain was hopeful that it wasn’t serious.
He said: “It (the ankle) is pretty alright as of now. It will be properly addressed in the morning as to how it is. I was running properly, but it was a bit difficult.”
