RCB survive Dhoni onslaught

When the equation reads 26 of the final over, it’s natural to tip the bowling side to prevail. But when a certain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is in the middle, nothing is over till it’s over.

The Chennai Super Kings’ skipper almost took his side over the line by smashing Royal Challengers Bangalore pacer Umesh Yadav for 24 runs off the first five balls. Dhoni (84 n.o., 48b, 5x4, 7x6) missed the last ball and a direct hit from wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel sealed the hosts a thrilling 1-run win.

Often criticised for their insipid show, RCB bowlers finally decided to write a different script here at the Chinnaswamy stadium on Sunday.

For a team that nearly faltered twice after putting up a 200 plus total on the board, a target of 162 was always going to be tough to defend. However, the trio of Dale Steyn (2/29), Navdeep Saini (1/24) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/24) trumped an experienced Chennai Super Kings’ batting.

RCB, who continue to hang by a thread in the tournament, thus snapped their poor home-run this season to notch their first win here. Virat Kohli’s men also prevailed over the Super Kings for the first time since 2014 after losing seven games on the trot.

Steyn’s two-wicket burst in the first over gave the hosts an excellent start. The Proteas’ veteran had Shane Watson (5) caught at slips and then produced a scorching yorker that crashed through the gates of Suresh Raina (0). CSK fell in a spot of bother when Faf du Plessis (5) and Kedar Jadhav (9) gifted their wickets by playing nothing shots.

The visitors took the game deep with a 55-run stand between Dhoni and Rayudu (29) but at the end of a cracker of a game, it were the Challengers who had the last laugh.

Earlier, RCB faced a huge challenge when their batting mainstays Kohli (9) and AB de Villiers (25) fell early. Deepak Chahar, who got a hint of outward shape, teased the Challengers’ skipper and induced an edge.

De Villiers was put down by Faf du Plessis off Shardul Thakur in the fifth over. However, there would be no AB special as the right-hander was dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja an over later. De Villiers danced down the track for a big hit but couldn’t middle the ball and holed out to du Plessis, who pouched the catch safely this time at long off.

The hosts had to surmount their overdependence on the duo but a tactical error gave Chennai the upper hand. In a surprise move, Moeen Ali was made to wait for his turn as first Akshdeep Nath and then Marcus Stoinis gave Parthiv company in the middle. Perhaps it would have worked in RCB’s favour if they had not considered the left-right combination and pushed Ali – who had essayed two successive splendid knocks to change the course of the innings – up the order.

The failures of Nath (24) and Stoinis (14) reinstated the glaring blunder. Parthiv (53, 37b, 2x4, 4x6), who was scratchy in the beginning, held one end firmly and found the odd boundary. The southpaw couldn’t accelerate during the death but Ali’s fine cameo took the Challengers to a respectable total. The left-hander walked in with only 21 balls to go but smashed a 16-ball 26 with five fours. In the end, the total turned out to be just enough for RCB.

SCORE BOARD

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE: Parthiv Patel c Watson b Bravo 53 (37b, 2x4, 4x6), Virat Kohli c Dhoni b Chahar 9 (8b, 2x4), AB de Villiers c Du Plessis b Jadeja 25 (19b, 3x4, 1x6), Akshdeep Nath c du Plessis b Jadeja 24 (20b, 1x4, 1x6), Marcus Stoinis c sub b Tahir 14 (13b, 1x6), Moeen Ali c Thakur b Bravo 26 (16b, 5x4), Pawan Negi c Rayudu b Chahar 5 (6b), Umesh Yadav (not out) 1, Dale Steyn (not out) 0 (0b). Extras (LB-2, W-2). 4. Total (for 7 wkts, 20 overs) 161.

Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Kohli), 2-58 (De Villiers), 3-99 (Nath), 4-124 (Ali), 5-126 (Stoinis), 6-150 (Negi), 7-160 (Ali).

Bowling: Deepak Chahar 4-0-25-2 (w-1), Shardul Thakur 4-0-40-0 (w-1), Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-29-2, Dwayne Bravo 4-0-34-2, Imran Tahir 4-0-31-1.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Shane Watson c Stoinis b Steyn 5 (3b, 1x4), Faf du Plessis c de Villiers b Umesh 5 (15b), Suresh Raina b Steyn 0 (1b), Ambati Rayudu b Chahal 29 (29b, 2x4, 1x6), Kedar Jadhav c de Villiers b Umesh 9 (9b, 2x4), MS Dhoni (not out) 84 (48b, 5x4, 7x6), Ravindra Jadeja (run out) 11 (12b), Dwayne Bravo c Parthiv b Saini 5 (4b), Shardul Thakur (run out) 0 (0). Extras (LB-9, NB-1, W-2) 12. Total (for 8 wkts, in 20 overs) 160.

Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Watson), 2-6 (Raina), 3-17 (du Plessis), 4-28 (Jadhav), 5-83 (Rayudu), 6-108 (Jadeja), 7-136 (Bravo), 8-160 (Thakur). Bowling: Dale Steyn 4-0-29-2, Navdeep Saini 4-0-24-1 (nb-1), Umesh Yadav 4-0-47-2 (w-1), Pawan Negi 1-0-7-0, Marcus Stoinis 3-0-20-0 (w-1), Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-24-1.