CHENNAI SUPER KINGS BEAT RCB TO GO TO TOP
Chennai are now on the top with 14 points from 10 matches.
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made a heavy weather of a small total before captain M.S. Dhoni did his famous finishing act to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by six wickets and virtually seal their place in the IPL play-offs here on Saturday.
RCB, on the other hand, are virtually out of the race for the play-offs. They are currently on six points and have to win all their five remaining matches. The Chennai team were expected to acomplish the job quite easily. But the team put themselves under pressure in the slog overs before skipper Dhoni smashed three sixes to take his side across the line in the 18th over. Having elected to field first, CSK restricted the visitors to 127/9 in their 20 overs. CSK were boosted by an excellent display by the hitherto off-colour Ravindra Jadeja who roared back to form with figures of 3/18.
Ambati Rayudu laid the foundation of a successful chase with 32 runs off 25 balls after the other opener Shane Watson was bowled by Umesh Yadav in the third over.
Rayudu and Suresh Raina tried to bring the chase back on track with a 44-run stand before Yadav struck again, removing Raina in the ninth over.
Rayudu fell a couple of overs later. However, Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo batted sensibly to ensure victory for the hosts without any further loss of wickets.
Earlier, disciplined bowling by CSK and a few reckless shots by the RCB batsmen saw the visitors being restricted to a low total.
The highlight of the RCB batting effort was a half-century from opener Parthiv Patel, who was their highest scorer with 53 runs off 41 balls. Fast bowler Lungi Ngidi struck the first blow for CSK early on when he dismissed RCB opener Brendan McCullum in the second over.
RCB skipper Virat Kohli made a bold move by promoting himself up the order coming out to bat at the one-down slot. But his move did not pay off as Jadeja struck a big blow with his first ball of the match when he bowled the RCB skipper with a delivery that turned in sharply after pitching.
CSK struck another big blow in the very next over when the dangerous AB De Villiers was stumped off Harbhajan Singh’s bowling. RCB continued to lose wickets at regular intervals as CSK restricted them to a low total. Brief scores: CSK: 128/4 in 18 overs (Rayudu 32, Dhoni 31 not out) vs RCB: 127/9 in 20 overs (Patel 53; Southee 36 not out; Jadeja 3/18). IANS