Mahendra Singh Dhoni did what he does best, give opposition a massive scare, said Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli after his team beat CSK by one run in an IPL humdinger on Sunday.
M.S. Dhoni's brutal assault on Umesh Yadav in the final over of CSK's run chase saw the veteran keeper-batsman rack up an unbeaten 84 off 48 balls, his highest T20 international score. Dhoni struck seven sixes and five fours during his blistering innings but failed to take Chennai over the line.
Dale Steyn, whose second stint at RCB had begun in emphatic fashion at Eden Gardens, made early inroads yet again. He struck twice in the first over, having Shane Watson edge to slip before bowling Suresh Raina first-ball with a delightful yorker.
Deepak Chahar and Ravindra Jadeja were on song again, returning combined figures of four for 54 from their eight overs to stifle RCB's progress. Chahar struck early, luring Virat Kohli into a drive with a full out-swinger before removing Pawan Negi in the 19th over.
Parthiv Patel's 37-ball 53 including four sixes and two fours took RCB to an eventually match-wining total of 161/7. Parthiv Patel added 47 runs (26 balls) for the second wicket with AB De Villiers in quick time to give Bangalore's innings some much needed momentum in the first-half of the innings.
David Warner and Jonny Bairstow scripted their fourth century partnership in nine matches — they also possess seven 50-plus partnerships — this Indian Premier League season with some scintillating strokeplay that shut Knight Riders out of the contest a bit too early when the chase was on.
Khaleel Ahmed returned figures of three for 33 to help restrict KKR to 159. He got rid of openers Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn and also accounted for young Shubman Gill who was promoted to the No. 3 spot in Robin Uthappa's absence.
KKR opener Chris Lynn's 47-ball 51 pushed Kolkata Knight Riders to a seemingly competitive total of 159. Lynn struck four fours and a six during his innings which helped KKR thwart an impressive Sunrisers bowling attack to a certain extent.
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