IPL 2018: Match 24, RCB vs CSK, Review- Rayudu and Dhoni's ferocity engulfs hapless hosts

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) racked up a massive win against the Delhi Daredevils, but were faced with the daunting prospect of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium. Virat Kohli’s men didn’t want to surrender the momentum they garnered against Delhi, however, overpowering CSK wasn’t going to be a cakewalk for them by any stretch of the imagination.

They racked up a mammoth score of 205 in their allotted quota. The top order raced away including the likes of AB de Villiers, who played exceptionally yet another time. But late strikes pushed the Challengers on the back-foot. During the run-chase, CSK strained but their batsmen somehow managed to hold their nerves, pulled out the big shots when required and pocketed the game by five wickets.

De Villiers and de Kock guide the Challengers

Chennai have a strong batting lineup and hence MS Dhoni elected to chase, mentioning that defending runs at the venue won’t be easy. Quinton de Kock and Virat Kohli started with a blitz, but Shardul Thakur drew first blood when Kohli flicked the ball into the palms of Ravindra Jadeja, who is safe as houses in the outfield. AB de Villiers carried forward his form from the previous game.

He trod an aggressive route and along with Quinton de Kock, he took CSKs bowlers to the cleaners. The South African duo notched 103 runs off 53 balls, which left Chennai in tatters. Both of them played equal number of deliveries in the stand. De Villiers was the dominating partner as de Kock played turned over the strike and hit the odd boundaries to maintain the run flow from the other end.

Both batsmen accomplished their respective half-centuries and at that stage, RCB looked poised to comfortable breach the 200 run mark. During this while, de Villiers also smacked the fastest six of the tournament (111 meters) off Imran Tahir, which cleared the roof of the stadium. However, against the run of play, Dwayne Bravo nipped out de Kock’s wicket with a clever slower delivery.

To make things worse, Imran Tahir accounted for the prized scalp of AB de Villiers and all of a sudden RCB had two new men at the crease in the form of Corey Anderson and Mandeep Singh. Anderson became Tahir’s second victim and the game came back in the balance. Mandeep scored 32 runs with three sixes and the blitz got them over the 200-run mark, despite a flurry of wickets in the end.

Hosts stumble as CSK roars to victory

The run chase was equivalent to a mountain to climb, but it wasn’t impossible, bearing in mind Chennai’s firepower in their batting lineup. Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu have been excellent and the team required them to fire. Watson smacked Pawan Negi for a six, but was dismissed in the first over itself. Suresh Raina joined Rayudu in the middle and carved a 42 run stand in 25 balls.

However, he couldn’t survive for long as Umesh Yadav accounted for his dismissal. On the contrary, Rayudu looked in a different zone and carried on from where he left against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The worrying factor for them was that wickets were falling from the other end. Yuzvendra Chahal picked Sam Billings and Ravindra Jadeja in quick succession, which put the skids under CSK.

MS Dhoni had a staggering average of 61 in the IPL at the Chinnaswamy and he didn’t disappoint this time around as well. Meanwhile, Rayudu brought up his successive half-century in 40 balls. The stand carved a fifty-run stand in the 14th over, which kept Chennai in contention. He stormed to his 16th half-century in 29 balls with a short-arm jab, which rocketed into the crowd.

The stand of 101 runs off 53 balls came to an end when Umesh Yadav threw down the stumps. With 30 runs required off the last overs, Mohammed Siraj looked in pressure and gave away three consecutive wides. CSK required 16 runs off the final over, but Bravo muscled a four followed by a six. Bravo picked up a single and ‘Dhoni finished the game off in style’ with a whirlwind whack.

Here’s what Bhajji tweeted

Absolutely superb @msdhoni! This is why you're known as the best finisher! And a smashing innings from @RayuduAmbati! CSK all the way! #RCBvsCSK #WhistlePodu

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) April 25, 2018

Brief Scores

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 205/8 in 20 overs; AB de Villiers 68, Quinton de Kock 53; Dwayne Bravo 2/33, Imran Tahir 2/35

Chennai Super Kings: 207/5 in 19.4 overs; Ambati Rayudu 82, MS Dhoni 70*; Yuzvendra Chahal 2/26, Umesh Yadav 1/23

Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets   

Player of the Match: MS Dhoni