Brief scores from CSK vs RCB: Chennai Super Kings 191/4 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 62*, Faf du Plessis 50; Harshal Patel 3/51)
Royal Challengers Bangalore 122/9 in 20 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 34, Glenn Maxwell 22; Ravindra Jadeja 3/13, Imran Tahir 2/16)
It has been an aggressive form of cricket from Chennai Super Kings as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 69-runs to reclaim the top spot in the points table.
Winning the toss and batting first, Chennai had yet another desirable start to their inning, with openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis adding 74 runs to the total, which was followed by a modest 37-run stand between Raina and his Protea colleague. The innings slowed down a bit post-Raina and Du Plessis’ dismissals on back-to-back deliveries thereby bringing their score to 111/3 at the end of the 14th over.
Ravindra Jadeja, who has risen as a death-overs specialist in IPL, initially forged a 31-run partnership with Ambati Rayudu, then went ballistic in the final moments, hammering 37 runs off the last over to take Chennai to 191 at the end of their inning. In reply, Bangalore could aggregate only 122 runs that had Devdutt Padikkal (34) extending his form from the last outing, followed by Glenn Maxwell (22), while others fell prey to Chennai’s tactics.
Here are the talking points from CSK vs RCB match –
Du Plessis’ notorious run continues, slams 2nd fifty of the season
One of the vital cogs for Chennai since his arrival in 2011, Faf du Plessis’ contributions with the willow have played an invaluable role in their side’s triumphs in high-octane encounters.
The experienced Protea cricketer kept the innings ticking from an end and struck 5 fours and a six in his knock of 50, which comprised two crucial partnerships of 74 and 37 runs alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad and Suresh Raina respectively.
His innings came to an end in the 14th over, when he tried to pull an off-cutter by Harshal Patel that got him caught to Daniel Christian at long-on. While he could’ve added more, his composed exhibition in the first ten overs set the winning foundation for Chennai against their southern rivals.
Post that stellar knock, Du Plessis now ranks third in the list of leading run-getters for this season, with 214 runs to his name while averaging 71.33 and striking at 138.96.
Jadeja blasts his way to 62*, scalps 3/13 with the ball
It was Ravindra Jadeja all across Wankhede, who first dazzled with a 28-ball 62*, then bagged jaw-dropping figures of 4-1-13-3, including a run-out of Daniel Christian, to be rightly crowned as the Player of the Match for Sunday’s first double-header.
Talking about his heroics with the willow, Jadeja, who came out to bat at No 4, allowed Rayudu to don the aggressive avatar while he added a modest 17 runs to their 31-run partnership.
However, Jadeja’s silent innings turned ballistic from the 19th over, where he struck a four and a single to keep himself at the crease, then unleashed his angst on Harshal Patel for a whopping 37 runs, that comprised 5 sixes and a four to propel CSK to 191 runs.
His all-round exhibition continued in the second half, where he tore through RCB’s middle-order by dismissing the likes of Washington Sundar, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers in his quota of four overs, right before the trio could settle themselves to keep Bangalore in the run-chase.
RCB bundle out to the pressure
Bangalore’s 44-run opening stand that had a fiery knock from Devdutt Padikkal (34) proved to be the only positive for the franchise in the chase involving a 192-run target. The Men in Red cruised to 44 runs in merely 3 overs, but Kohli’s dismissal on 8 while trying to cut a Sam Curran’s delivery pushed brakes on Bangalore’s scoring.
In fact, the situation only worsened for them as the overs progressed, with Padikkal forcing himself to the pavillion on a pull shot to Raina positioned at square leg, and the likes of Washington Sundar (7), Glenn Maxwell (22) and AB de Villiers (4) being outfoxed by Jadeja in the subsequent overs.
Imran Tahir (2/16) joined hands with Jadeja in RCB’s annihilation at Wankhede, bowling out Harshal Patel and Navdeep Saini at the fag end.
With the chase being out of reach, it was just a matter of few deliveries that Bangalore had to face to put an end to their duel at Wankhede.
Among the remaining bowlers, Shardul Thakur (1/11) had an economical outing followed by Sam Curran (1/35). Dwayne Bravo and Deepak Chahar had an off day as they remained wicketless and conceded 19 and 25 runs respectively in their two overs.
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