Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni hit a merciless 84 not out off just 48 balls on Sunday but that wasn’t enough as Royal Challengers Bangalore edged home by one run and kept their IPL hopes alive.
Chennai were down and almost out at 28-4 chasing 162 after RCB quick Dale Steyn had rocked the top order. But Dhoni took the game right to the last over where he dared to score the required 26 off six balls.
Dhoni smashed seamer Umesh Yadav’s first three balls for four, six and six. The game was now within reach and with eight needed off two balls, Dhoni launched the hapless quick over midwicket as the equation came down to two off the last ball.
Yadav bowled a slower one to Dhoni which the veteran missed keeper Parthiv Patel affected a run-out off the attempted bye as RCB held on to a one-run win.
The Super Kings remained at the top of the table after their third defeat in 10 games while RCB are still at the bottom of the table with just their third win after 10 matches.
Parthiv takes control
With RCB batting first,Chennai seamer Deepak Chahar got the ball to swing away late and had skipper Virat Kohli in all sorts of trouble. He got an edge over slips before nicking a full away swinger to keeper Dhoni, showing he remains susceptible to the away swinging ball.
AB de Villiers looked good before mistiming Ravindra Jadeja to long off for 25. It was left to opener Parthiv Patel to press the accelerator and the left-hander did just that, racing to 53 off 37 with two hits to the fence and four maximums.
After two consecutive sensational innings, Moeen Ali demoted tonight. It must make sense....to someone. #RCBvCSK #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 21, 2019
Patel’s spark covered up Bangalore’s bizarre ploy to hold back in-form power hitter Moeen Ali to number six after the Englishman had spanked two fifties at the No4 position.
Moeen made 26 off 16, while Akshdeep Nath (24 off 20) and Marcus Stoinis (14 off 13) didn’t do much before him. Still, a total of 161-7 was put on the board.
Steyn stuns Chennai
Dale Steyn was on fire. Image: BCCI/SPORTZPICS.
There was still some juice in the pitch. And Steyn (2-29) knows how to extract it. In one of the liveliest new-ball spells of the season, Steyn got out-of-form Shane Watson to edge a rising away swinger to first slip before castling Suresh Raina with a quick yorker first ball.
Fellow quick Umesh hurried Faf du Plessis and Kedar Jadhav with short balls that were caught inside the circle as Bangalore pushed the table toppers onto the backfoot.
Dhoni fights back
Be it India or Chennai Super Kings, it’s always Dhoni who has to clean up after a batting collapse. At 28-4, RCB were all over Chennai and Dhoni did what he does best – blunt the attack and take the match into the final 20 minutes.
He first added 55 for the fifth wicket with Ambati Rayudu before taking it upon himself to finish the game. The equation was still in Bangalore’s favour when 49 were needed off the final three overs but Dhoni wasn’t done yet.
Dhoni’s innings included five fours and as many as seven sixes, with the first six in the final over of the match going out of the ground.
