Chennai Super Kings (CSK) survived a spirited fight from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to prevail by eight runs in their IPL clash at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Monday.
The high-voltage affair between the traditional rivals produced an exciting run-fest, with a total of 444 runs scored on the night.
Chasing 227, RCB took a no-holds-barred approach to scare the visitor. Captain Faf du Plessis (62, 33b, 5x4, 4x6) and Glenn Maxwell (76, 36b, 3x4, 8x6) went berserk, putting on 126 runs in 10.1 overs.
RCB was on top when the duo was going great guns. Like he has done many times in the past, CSK skipper M.S. Dhoni found a way to bail his side out of trouble. Dhoni kept his cool and latched on to two tough skiers to send du Plessis and Maxwell back to the pavilion, in what turned out to be match-winning catches.
With the batting mainstays out of the way, RCB could not stay afloat. After being put in, CSK feasted on a sumptuous spread offered by RCB to rack up a mammoth total.
Devon Conway (83, 45b, 6x4, 6x6), Ajinkya Rahane (37, 20b, 3x4, 2x6) and Shivam Dube (52, 27b, 2x4, 5x6) hammered the RCB attack, which was badly off the mark. The bowlers - pacers Wayne Parnell, V. Vyshak and Harshal Patel in particular - served up an assortment of full tosses, overpitched deliveries and half-trackers to make life easy for the batters.
Conway favoured the leg-side, rocking back and pulling with great authority. Dube launched the full tosses into the stands, en route to his first fifty of this tournament. Rahane hit the shot of the day, hooking a short ball from Parnell onto the stadium roof. RCB’s woes were completed when Harshal was barred from completing the final over for bowling two no-balls above the waist.
The packed crowd was thrilled to welcome Dhoni to the crease. Dhoni walked in with two balls remaining, but could only manage a single.
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