Virat Kohli was nearly in tears. Faf du Plessis could not contain his joy. MS Dhoni was nowhere to be seen after the game. All of it summed up the drama of the night in Bengaluru, as Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) won their sixth game on the trot in IPL 2024 to knock Chennai Super Kings (CSK) out and make the playoffs. Faf Du Plessis chose a night with a brilliant 50 and stunning acrobatics in the field to give a boost to RCB campaign.
Batting First Faf Du Plessis and Virat Kohli provided blazing starts to propel RCB to 218 on ironically 18th May supported from cameos by Rajat Patidar and Cameron Green.
Pitch and Toss
60m square boundaries, 70m straight down the ground. There’s not much grass on the surface, there are a few cracks and it looks mosaic, but the pitch is rock hard, reckons Deep Dasgupta. Doesn’t have that extra moisture like the last game played here. There will be runs scored. Hasn’t rained much since yesterday barring the occasional drizzle.
Chennai Super Kings skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad won the toss and chose to bowl first making one change replacing Moeen Ali with Mitchell Santner. RCB skipper Faf Du Plessis batting first made no changes in playing XI.
Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis and the rain break makes Powerplay exciting
Tushar Deshpande got some swing in a tidy first over but Faf du Plessis got going from the second from Shardul Thakur. Kohli made up for Deshpande’s first over by carting him for two sixes in his second – a swivel-pull crashing against the roof behind square and then danced down and pulled another. RCB had 31/0 in 3 overs when a brief rain break came along.
When play resumed, the ball gripped and turned and CSK spin pair of Maheesh Theekshana and Mitchell Santner made the RCB openers struggle to time the ball. Only 11 came from the next 3 overs – with just one boundary – as the ball spun square to beat the bat of both the openers consistently.
Kohli has reinvented himself this season like none other. He is leading not just the pack of run-scorers this season (708) but also that of six-hitters with 37 to his name. Tushar Deshpande delivered a couple of length ball that he duly deposited into the stands. Faf Du Plessis also struck one off Shardul Thakur when rain hit pause on RCB’s charge at 31 for 0 in three overs.
The 40-minute intervention seemed to have changed the track, with both Maheesh Theekshana and Mitchell Santner bowling seven dots in the two overs since resumption. RCB finished the powerplay at 42 for none, their joint-lowest score this season alongside the 42 for 3 they made against CSK in the season opener.
Kohli tried to break the shackles with sixes off Santner and Ravindra Jadeja but holed out to wide long-on. Faf Du Plessis, though, hit two sixes and a four of a Jadeja over to get to a 35-ball fifty after being on 29 off 28 at one point.
RCB lose two but hit back with Faf Du Plessis and Rajat Patidar
CSK unleashed more spin as Ravindra Jadeja too joined in. He got vicious turn at 100kmph, frustrating an already-scratchy Faf Du Plessis. But Kohli took his chances against the spinner – getting a four off the outside edge, before slog-sweeping for his third six of the innings. He unfurled another slog sweep off a full Santner ball that travelled for a low six. Kohli’s effective knock in trying conditions came to an end next ball when it flew off the leading edge of his bat towards long-on where Daryl Mitchell took a sharp catch.
Faf Du Plessis started to get his head around the turn and the ball started to come on much better as the RCB captain targeted the straight and cover fence for one four and two sixes off Jadeja. Du Plessis went from 30 off 29 to 54 off 39 before CSK had the rub of the green with his dismissal.
A straight drive off Rajat Patidar ricocheted off Santner’s hand and hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end, catching Faf du Plessis just out. Theekshana and Santner bowled 8 overs for 48 runs between them but RCB still maintained a high scoring rate.
Green, Patidar, Karthik provide flying finish to propel them to 218 in 20 overs
That Patidar takes down spin is an open secret, and he proved it with a massive hit over long-off off Theekshana, who was the most economical CSK bowler. But he loves playing fast bowlers more. And that facet came to the fore with the ease he hit Simarjeet Singh for a four and six off successive balls. He continued his unhindered strokeplay against Deshpande and Thakur to super-charge RCB’s progress, along with Green, who showed his power game to full effect.
Green slapped Simarjeet through point before hammering Theekshana straight down the ground. He then hit Thakur for back-to-back sixes as RCB crossed 200 for the sixth time this season, becoming the third team to do so in an IPL season. The result CSK leaked 63 at the death (overs 17 to 20), the most they conceded in the phase in the entire season. The presence of dew meant they were not able to grip the ball and use the assistance the pitch had, especially when off-pace length balls were dug in.
The RCB trio carried out an absolute carnage against Thakur and Deshpande. Green used his long levers and swung through the line successfully as even his mistimed hits sailed over for sixes. His 17-ball 38 included three fours and three sixes. Rajat Patidar, like Kohli, smashed four sixes during his whirlwind 41 off 23.
Every RCB batter who faced more than 1 ball had at least a four and a six to his name as Dinesh Karthik and Glenn Maxwell added 30 off the 11 balls they faced. During the course of this phase, RCB became the first team this season to hit 150 sixes. Shardul and Deshpande went for 110 in their eight overs as RCB cruised to 218/5. To make it to the playoffs, they now needed to restrict CSK to 200 or below.
CSK recover quickly after two wickets in Powerplay.
Ruturaj Gaikwad fell to an innocuous ball from Glenn Maxwell on the first ball of the chase and Daryl Mitchell too departed early, but Ajinkya Rahane and Rachin Ravindra found runs against the quicks. The two batters punished Mohammed Siraj and Yash Dayal for their erroneous lengths, taking easy boundaries square of the wicket. Rahane hit the only six of the phase and yet he and Ravindra provided CSK an ideal launchpad in the 200 chase.
After Glenn Maxwell, brought back in place of Will Jacks, struck first ball to have Ruturaj Gaikwad caught at short fine leg. Dayal then had Daryl Mitchell miscue to wide mid-off. CSK’s charge in the powerplay was led by Rachin Ravindra, with some assistance from Ajinkya Rahane.
Rahane targeted Dayal and hit a six and two perfectly-timed fours off him. He added 66 off 41 for the third wicket with Ravindra, whose gameplan seemed quite simple – to slice the length balls square through off.
Like he did and succeeded against Maxwell in the first over. He would use even the slightest of width – like Mohammed Siraj provided in the fourth over – to thrash it through point, while the short-of-good-length ones would either be ramped over short third or heaved through midwicket. He brought up his half-century off 31 balls and looked good to be the difference, before a mix-up with Shivam Dube saw him be run out.
Slow going, Ravindra run-out and a Faf Du Plessis blinder in the middle overs
Swapnil Singh bowled two excellent overs for just 13 runs, without a single four or six. Ravindra and Rahane made up for it in the over by Karn Sharma, taking 14 off it. Lockie Ferguson struck on his first ball to remove Rahane and used his variations well to concede just two singles. Maxwell tied down the two left-handers Ravindra and Shivam Dube with a four-run over to escalate CSK’s asking rate.
There was potential for the tables to turn in Ferguson’s next over as the wet ball slipped out of his hand and he bowled a waist-high no-ball that went for a four. The ensuing free-hit ball and the one after that were smashed for sixes to put the pressure back on the hosts. But a poor mix-up between Ravindra and Dube – the latter ball-watching while taking a run – led to the former’s run out.
Dube then wasted a reprieve offered to him by a dropped catch from Siraj as he was dismissed two balls later off Maxwell, who finished with figures of 1 for 25. Faf du Plessis then dented CSK further with a one-handed diving blinder of a catch at mid-off to send Mitchell Santner back. MS Dhoni walked out with CSK needing 90 off 30 for a win and 72 to reach the playoffs.
In hindsight, the middle overs proved to be the difference between the two teams. It was the phase in which Patidar and Green showed RCB the way. It was the phase were RCB scored boundaries at will. It was the phase that set them up for a tall final flourish with the bat.
RCB scored 113 runs in overs 7 to 16, and lost just two wickets. But CSK could not quite capitalize in the phase, and could score only 80. What’s more, they lost four wickets in the phase, one each in the 12th, 13th and the 14th to be devoid of any momentum. One of those was all du Plessis’ brilliance.
Mitchell Santner had creamed a lofted off drive off Siraj that seemed to clear mid-off. But Faf du Plessis swiftly moved to his right and timed his leap perfectly to pluck out a one-handed stunner. CSK, as a result, went from 115 for 3 to 129 for 6 in the space of 13 balls.
Yash Dayal bounces back in last-over finish as RCB moves to Playoffs.
It prompted Dhoni to walk out to bat at the earliest point this season. And even his 25 off 13 was not enough for a possible fairytale ending, if it indeed is one.
Two overs in, the scales tipped in RCB’s favour as CSK needed 50 off the last 18 balls to make the last-four. Jadeja then dragged the game back in the balance by taking on Siraj with a 15-run over. Ferguson’s struggle with the wet ball persisted and both CSK batters capitalized. Both got a four each before Jadeja closed it out with a six over deep mid-wicket.
With 17 to get off 6, Dhoni deposited a hit-me full toss from Dayal over the roof above the fine leg region but Dayal did well to hold his nerve and bounce back. His back-of-the-hand slower ball consumed Dhoni on the next delivery as the CSK batter couldn’t clear the deep square leg fielder. The equation came down to 10 off 2 with Jadeja on strike but Dayal beat the bat twice to complete the win. CSK came within touching distance.
They needed 10 off the last two balls to qualify with Ravindra Jadeja, the batter who hit a six and four to win CSK their fifth title last year, on strike. But Yash Dayal bowled two off-pace length balls to deny Jadeja and CSK. This was after being taken for a massive six on the first ball of the last over by MS Dhoni, and then using the back-of-the-hand slower one to have him caught at deep square leg. CSK hopes dipped at that moment and RCB never let them back.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Ruturaj Gaikwad the loosing skipper said :
“I think it was a good wicket to be honest, it was spinning and gripping a little bit, but I think 200 on this ground was gettable. We kept losing wickets at regular intervals, it was a matter of one or two hits, sometimes that can happen in a T20 game,”
“Pretty happy with what the target was, to sum up the season, I am pretty happy to have seven wins out of 14 games. Just couldn’t get over the line in the last two balls. With the kind of injuries we had, missing out on two frontline bowlers, not having Conway at the top of the order as well, I think missing out on three key players made a huge difference,” he stated.
“Credit to the CSK staff and everyone who put up a great show for us throughout the season. There were many challenges for us right throughout the first game. Injury to Fizz (Mustafizur), then injury to Pathirana as well, he came back and then again Pathirana missed out,” he added.
“When you have injuries around, you have to get that balance in the team and pick it (the team) for every game. I think this season sums up well where we had to tinker around with our playing XI, considering the injuries and all the illness (of the players) as well,” he further added.
“Happy with the seven wins, couldn’t get over the line though. Happy with it. We got 10 from the last 2 balls in our last knockout game last year so this was a similar situation, things didn’t go our way (this season) though. For me, personal milestones don’t really matter a lot, after all the ultimate goal is to win. If you are not getting there it’s a disappointment. Doesn’t matter if you score 100 runs or 500-600 runs in a season. I am disappointed (after losing.),” he concluded.
Faf Du Plessis Man of the Match for his all round effort and winning skipper said :
“What a night. Unbelievable and such a great atmosphere, such a pleasure to finish off the season at home with a win. Batting first, I think it was the hardest pitch I have ever played on in T20s. Myself and Virat were talking about 140-150 after we came back from the rain break. The communication from the umpires was there was a lot of rain on the pitch, they wanted to push the game and that makes sense,”
“When we came back, my goodness, I was telling Mitch Santner it was like a day 5 Test match at Ranchi and to get 200 on that was unbelievable. The last 6 games the batters have batted with good intent and good strike-rate. We were slow earlier on and we wanted more intent and that was awesome,” he stated.
“We were defending 175, it got a bit close, at one stage, with MS there, I thought, oh dear, he has done it so many times. The way we bowled with the wet ball was unbelievable, we tried to change itI dedicate this Man of the Match to Yash Dayal. The way he bowled was unbelievable. For a man who’s fairly new, he deserves it. [on what he told Dayal before the last over] Pace off is the best option on this pitch and trust your skills and enjoy, this is what you trained for. The yorker did not work the 1st ball and he went back to pace off and it worked unbelievably well. [on the crowd tonight] It’s crazy, even when we weren’t winning the fans were here,” he added.
“We in the changeroom we felt it was something we had to get right. Coming here tonight, it was set up nicely, CSK v RCB, unbelievable atmosphere and we as a team will do a lap of honor to thank the crowd for the support. It’s really important that we enjoy this, great 6 games in a row and the first goal in the IPL is to get into the knockouts and we have done that, enjoy this but get back to work tomorrow,” he further added.
Finally RCB get one over CSK in a knockout game. It has been often the men in yellow who have had the wood over the men in red but it’s redemption time for RCB tonight. They set the tone with the bat as everyone batted well to give their side 218 and then Maxwell struck first ball to remove Gaikwad to give them a dream start. The plans to Dube was spot-on and the dangerous left-hander was nipped out for a low score. The partnership between Rahane and Ravindra set the innings back on track but Lockie struck first ball to remove the former.
Ravindra was run-out after a mix-up with Dube and one can now say that was the turning point of the game. Jadeja though did not give up and once again looked set to break RCB hearts as he struck them cleanly. And that man MSD threatened as well, that six over the roof at fine-leg would have brought back all the horror memories for RCB fans when CSK would win from nowhere.
But credit to Yash Dayal who showed a cool head and forced a top-edge that got MS and from then he kept nailing the back of the hand slower balls and eventually took his side home. The crowd’s reaction when RCB won must have been the loudest it has ever been as they milked it all in. So 6 on the trot for RCB and they make the playoffs. Meanwhile a rare setback for CSK as they fail to make it to the last four.
RCB doing a lap of honor to thank the crowd as Faf Du Plessis promised he would do. Not many would have left the ground for sure tonight. Such a thrilling game and the partisan RCB crowd get what they wanted – their side into the playoffs at the expense of CSK. 6 on the trot for RCB and they are a side bubbling with momentum. They will go to Ahmedabad to play the Eliminator and will wait to face their opponents. CSK’s campaign ends here. RCB head to Ahmedabad where they will face one of RR or SRH in the Eliminator on May 22.