Sharjah: Chennai Super Kings produced a clinical all-round show as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets and claimed the top spot. IPL Packing order here on Friday. RCB captain Virat Kohli (53) and young Devdutt Padikkal (70) put on a brilliant 111-run partnership but were restricted to 156 for six by CSK after bowling.
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In-form Ruturaj Gaikwad scored a quick 38 while Faf du Plessis scored 31 to lay a solid foundation for CSK to chase down a modest target in 18.1 overs. The win took CSK to the top spot with 14 points. They also surpassed Delhi Capitals, who also have 14 points, but the Yellow Brigade’s net run rate is a better 1.185 than the Delhi team’s 0.613.
While this was CSK’s second consecutive win, RCB have now lost both the games after the resumption of the league. Gaikwad and du Plessis added 71 runs in 8.2 overs and Moeen Ali (23) and Ambati Rayudu (32) also started later but could not convert them into big innings.
Suresh Raina (17) and skipper MS Dhoni (11) made sure there was no twist in the story, taking the team across the finish line. Neither Mohammad Siraj nor Navdeep Saini could trouble the CSK openers. Whether the ball was pitched, short or bowled on good length, Gaikwad and his Protea teammates treated him with equal disdain.
Gaikwad hit the ball hard and even reverse swept it before Kohli took a superb low catch off wrist spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Realizing that spinners could change the game, Kohli handed the ball to off-spinner Glenn Maxwell and the Australian responded with the wicket of du Plessis, who was guilty of playing loose shots.
However, Rayudu and Moeen showed no respect for the slow bowlers. He worked the ball to keep the scoreboard moving and also took big shots. At first, Kohli and Padikkal asked to take the first strike, but after Dwayne Bravo broke the partnership, RCB lost the momentum.
RCB could manage only 45 runs in the remaining 6.4 overs from where they could push for a score of around 200. Bravo’s bowling made a huge difference at the conclusion of RCB’s innings as he conceded only 24 runs. He also added four overs and the wickets of Glenn Maxwell (11) and Harshal Patel (3).
CSK had no shortage of quality bowlers with Deepak Chahar and Josh Hazlewood opening the attack, but the Bangalore openers – Kohli and Padikkal – began to strike the ball cleanly. Kohli started off by hitting consecutive boundaries off Chahar but it took him some time to regain his momentum. The skipper hit the same bowler for a big six on the on-side while Padikkal was fluent with his good timing shots on the off-side.
Dhoni shuffled his bowlers but no one got enough length to disturb the batsmen or stop the run flow. The young left-handed batsman also made good use of his legs against left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, with the ball going over long-on. He completed his half-century with a crushing four off Chahar, which also extended the team’s century.
The breakthrough finally came when Bravo sent back Kohli, who hit the ball clean and hard, but was caught near the boundary ropes. That wicket stopped the run flow and while trying to break the chains, both AB de Villiers (12) and Padikkal fell victim to Shardul Thakur.
Maxwell was expected to go after the bowlers and hit a six off Bravo to complete the team’s 150 in the 18th over, but RCB did not get a chance to flourish of late.
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