Do or Die Match of RCB VS CSK in IPL
At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) defeated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by a thrilling margin of 27 runs to guarantee their spot in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 playoffs. It all came down to the last over, where CSK needed to win by 17 to guarantee their spot in the playoffs. MS Dhoni struck hard to smash Yash Dayal’s opening ball, a full toss, over fine-leg for a 110-meter six. Dayal had run in. When the second ball was pitched, it was slower. Dhoni attempted to knock it over square-leg, but the fielder in the deep made an easy catch, and he only achieved elevation.
The ball that followed was sluggish and short, and Shardul Thakur missed it. Subsequently, he gained an advantage for a single to the short third man, giving Ravindra Jadeja ten to dismiss the final two and replicate his valiant performance from the 2023 final. To prevent CSK and Jadeja and help RCB advance to the playoffs, Dayal maintained composure and bowled two excellent slower deliveries. That these two adversaries played such a fantastic match on a day when their tournament fate was on the line was appropriate.
In a virtual knockout, CSK won the toss and chose to bowl first. This established the equation that whatever score RCB gets, they will need to win by 18 runs. The Chinnaswamy Stadium pitch has traditionally produced big scores and today was no different. Although there was a phase during RCB’s innings when it looked like getting 200 may not be that easy.
Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis led the assault in the first few overs as RCB got things going. A particularly noteworthy shot came from Kohli’s flip as he was charging Tushar Deshpande and hitting it over mid-wicket for a six. When the skies opened, RCB was 31 for 3 at the conclusion of three overs. For the benefit of all cricket fans, the rain only brought a brief interruption to the game, allowing play to resume without any overs lost.
After the restart, the batting circumstances seemed to get harder all of a sudden. When the ball began to grip and turn, CSK debuted its spinners. RCB only scored six runs in the first two overs following the restart, despite the ball occasionally twisting and beating the hitters. In the final over of the powerplay, Du Plessis hit a ground ball off Mahesh Theekshana, breaking the chains. After the powerplay, Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner maintained the spin challenge, and Kohli too regained his mojo. In the ninth over, Kohli hit Jadeja for a six over mid-wicket. Santner struck another six over mid-wicket after entering the field for the tenth time.
On the subsequent ball, though, Daryl Mitchell caught him at long-on and used good awareness to keep the ball in play. In order to reach his half-century, Du Plessis then got into the act, hitting Jadeja with two sixes and a four. One of the RCB’s most productive batsmen, Rajat Patidar, too got in on the action, hitting Theekshana for a six early in his innings. But Patidar’s drive, which caught Santner’s hand in the follow-through and struck the stumps at the non-striker’s end, removed du Plessis for 54. RCB required a significant attack in the slog overs after reaching 113 for three in the 13 overs.
Next was the collaboration that let RCB reach over 200. Patidar and Cameron Green displayed some aggressive hitting, adding 71 runs in just 28 balls. Just one of the previous seven overs was below 13. That was the nature of the partnership’s influence. Green scored 38 off 17 balls to stay undefeated while Patidar scored 41 off 23 balls. Glenn Maxwell (16 off five balls) and Dinesh Karthik (14 off six balls) both made brief cameos that helped RCB surpass 200. They reached 218; therefore, CSK had to score 201 to be eligible.
CSK’s pursuit got off to a dramatic start when Ruturaj Gaikwad hit the first ball to short fine-leg and was caught by Yash Dayal. Glenn Maxwell was brought in to bowl the first over considering what happened during RCB’s innings. The initial overs were not easy for the batters. CSK lost their second wicket in the third over when Dayal got Mitchell to edge one to mid-off. At 19 for two, CSK were in trouble.
Ajinkya Rahane and Rachin Ravindra got the task of trying to salvage the CSK innings underway. Combining prudence with aggressiveness, the partnership proved crucial as they added 66 runs off of 41 balls. Both established limitations at regular intervals to guarantee that the necessary rate stayed within reasonable bounds. As they divided the task of scoring the runs, their partnership progressed at a very steady pace. After nine overs, they were 85 for 2, and Lockie Ferguson was brought in. Rahane smashed a high shot from the opening delivery, which was caught by du Plessis for 33.
This was RCB’s opportunity to take control, and they increased the pressure by stopping the boundaries in the following few overs. When Ravindra reached his half-century in the 12th over with two fours and a six, CSK was able to slightly ease the strain.
The drama picked up in the overs that followed. First, in the thirteenth over, Mohammad Siraj removed Shivam Dube at long on. It did not harm RCB, though, as Ravindra was shortly run out for 61 after a mix-up with Dube. When Dube struck Ferguson too long on the following over, his struggle was done. Santner attempted to go over mid-off in the fifteenth over, but du Plessis swooped over to his right and brilliantly took a one-hander over his head, adding further pressure to CSK.
When MS Dhoni entered the game to replace Jadeja, CSK needed 71 runs from the final five overs in order to qualify. After the time-out, CSK had made 63 runs off of the last four. Soon after, Jadeja made his intentions clear by hitting the opening ball for a six through the air. Following the time-out, CSK scored 13 and 15 runs in the next two overs, making significant progress toward their needed total. Siraj was struck for a six and four, thus Jadeja was mostly responsible for bringing the assault to the bowlers.
CSK needed 35 as Ferguson entered the field for the penultimate over. To start, he bowled a beamer. Afterwards, Dhoni and Jadeja each scored four runs. Jadeja set up an exciting conclusion by hitting a six off the final ball over mid-wicket to conclude the over.
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