Royal Challengers Bengaluru 218 for 5 (Du Plessis 54, Kohli 47, Patidar 41, Green 38, Thakur 2-61) beat Chennai Super Kings 191 for 7 (Ravindra 61, Jadeja 42*, Dayal 4-42) by 27 runs
RCB have been in this situation many times – needing a win in their last league match to make it to the knockouts. They were at the same venue last year, where they managed to post a tall score featuring a Kohli century, only for a Shubman Gill ton to overshadow it all and knock them out. On Saturday, they found themselves in a similar situation again.
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.
Kohli, du Plessis and the rain break
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. 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. 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.
Patidar, Green and a tall finish
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.
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.
Ravindra and Jadeja, the bright spots in the chase
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.
Contrasting middle overs
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 capitalise 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 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.
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.
S Sudarshanan is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Sudarshanan7