Bengaluru (Karnataka): Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated defending champions Chennai Super Kings by 27 runs to secure the fourth and final play-off spot in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday.
Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad had already qualified for the play-offs.
Sent into bat, RCB posted a challenging 218 for five against CSK in their must-win. Skipper Faf du Plessis (54) and Virat Kohli (47) shared 78 runs for the opening stand in 9.4 overs after the match was interrupted by showers for sometime at the end of the third over.
Coming onto bat at No.3 position, Rajat Patidar made 41 off 23 balls and stitched 71 runs with Cameron Green (38 not out off 17) for the second wicket to keep up the tempo.
Towards the end, Dinesh Karthik (14 off 6) and Glenn Maxwell (16 off 5) played short little cameos to lift RCB. CSK needed 201 runs to qualify for the playoffs on account of a better run rate even if they lose, but could only manage 191 for 7.
Rachin Ravindra scored 61 off 37 balls, while Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane made 42 not out and 33 respectively. Towards the end, the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who could have probably played his last IPL match, scored a 13-ball 25-run cameo. But it was not enough. Yash Dayal kept his cool in the last over and returned with figures of 2/42 for RCB.
Match Live Updates Start From Here
- Overs 7-20 (191/7)
Ajinkya Rahane (33) and Ravindra (61) steadied the innings with a 64-run stand but Lockie Ferguson broke the partnership as the former was holed out by du Plessis and then the New Zealander was run out. Du Plessis then took a screamer to remove Mitchell Santner as CSK slipped to 129 for 6 in 15 overs. With their backs to the wall, Jadeja and Dhoni added a whirlwind 61 off 27 balls to bring the equation down to 11 off five balls to qualify for the play-offs. With CSK needing 17 runs off the last six balls to qualify, Yash Dayal bowled the final over and he was straight away smashed for a six by Dhoni but the pacer came back strongly to dismiss the former CSK skipper and then conceded just one run in next five balls to seal it for RCB. - Overs 1-6 (58/2)
Glenn Maxwell bowled the first over of the match and picked a first-ball wicket. He sent Ruturaj Gaikwad back to the pavilion on a golden duck. However, he still conceded 12 runs in his first over. Rachin Ravindra found his timing and smashed a couple of crisp boundaries in the first two overs. But then, RCB made a comeback with a wicket of Daryl Mitchell for only four runs as Yash Dayal picked a wicket in his first over. Rahane, who was demoted to number four, got going with an exceptional pull shot over long leg. Siraj into the attack to bowl the fourth over, but was taken to the cleaners collecting 13 runs off his first over. However, the powerplay has been shared by both the teams as RCB picked up a couple of wickets of in-form batters while CSK collected almost 60 runs.
END OF ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU INNINGS
- Overs 16-20 (218/5)
CSK need 219 to win, they need 200 to qualify for the playoffs. The match hangs in balance as this kind of total can be achievable at this venue with a cushion of an extra batter in the lineup. However, if you look at the score only, then you would say RCB are placed better in to win this encounter and have given themselves the best chance to qualify for playoffs. They posted a commendable 219-run target and would fancy their chances to restrict CSK on 200 or under. It was a mix of some bizarre power hitting and a bit of luck which took RCB to this total. Patidar and Green smashed some quick runs and then Dinesh Karthik and Glenn Maxwell played their part with cameos. - Overs 11-15 (138/2)
Ravindra Jadeja conceded 20 runs in the 11th over of the innings as Rajat Patidar and Faf du Plessis started to take on CSK bowlers. Faf also completed his half-century in the over. Rajat Patidar joined the party with a well-struck six off Theekshana. However, just when the RCB looked to go for a huge score, they lost their captain as he was found outside the crease when the ball hit the stumps after kissing Santner's fingers. He departed for well-made 59. Ruturaj saw that as an opportunity to bowl Simarjeet Singh, but the batters saw that as an opportunity to score some quick runs and collected 19 runs in the 14th over. Despite getting a boundary, RCB could manage to accumulate only six runs in the 15 over as Theekshana finished his spell giving only 25 runs off his four overs. However, RCB had scored 50 runs off the last five overs and have eight wickets in hand so they have won this phase. - Overs 7-10 (78/1)
When the powerplay ended and players standing in the circle got less, Virat Kohli started to play his natural game. He tried to play the ball into the gaps to find boundaries and many times was ready to take risks. RCB reached the 50-run mark in the seventh over as the game saw a dip in the run rate with the pitch turning square. Kohli broke the shackles against Jadeja, smashing a six over deep mid-wicket. But then, Santner broke the opening partnership as Kohli was caught at long-on by Daryl Mitchell on 47. He missed to reach the 8000 IPL runs mark by 29 runs. However, Patidar walked out to bat at number 3 in the absence of Will Jacks. So far so good for CSK after three blistering start to the innings. Tenth instance of a batter aggregating 700+ runs in a season, Kohli is the second batter to do it in two separate instances (973 in 2016 & 701* in 2024) after Chris Gayle (733 in 2012 & 708 in 2013). - Overs 4-6 (42/0)
Suddenly the nature of the pitch changed as it started gripping and turning sharply. This is mostly because of the moisture available on the pitch after the 40-minute rain delay. First Santner and then Theekshana used it pretty well, making it very difficult for the batters to play and time the ball. Both the batters haven't really read the turn available at the pitch and mistimed their shots by getting defeated with the bounce and turn available on the track and as a result, only 11 runs have come in the next three overs. - Update (8.12 pm)
The covers are being peeled off. The match might start within 15 mins now. Both the batters are sitting in the dugout and waiting for the game to start. The stumps are being put in place and the match will restart at 8:25 pm. There is no reduction of overs as of now. - Update (8.05 pm)
The rain has stopped, but the covers are still on. We can expect a restart soon. The fourth umpire is having a chat with the groundsmen and the curator. - 1-3 Overs (31/0)
Virat Kohli was off the mark on the very first ball, but then Faf du Plessis struggled against outswingers bowled by Tushar Deshpande and managed to score only a single on the final ball. Virat Kohli took the charge from the other side and hammered a boundary on the first ball of the second over. Faf had also got his timing by then smashing a six and a four as RCB collected 16 runs off the second over. Kohli started the third over with a bang as well, smacking Deshpande for a couple of sixes in an over. Overall, RCB got a blistering start with the ball nicely coming on to the bat, but the rain said hii to everyone present in the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, marking its presence for the epic clash between two of the most loved franchises in the IPL if not the world. However, the players are off and A heavy shower now and it's pelting down on the covers. - Impact Substitutes
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Swapnil Singh, Anuj Rawat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Himanshu Sharma
Chennai Super Kings: Shivam Dube, Sameer Rizvi, Prashant Solanki, Shaik Rasheed, Mukesh Choudhary - Playing XI
Chennai Super Kings: Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Daryl Mitchell, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(wk), Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Simarjeet Singh, Maheesh Theekshana
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis(c), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik(wk), Karn Sharma, Yash Dayal, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Siraj - Toss
Chennai Super Kings skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad won the toss and elected to field. CSK play Santner in place of Moeen while Glenn Maxwell replaces Will Jacks for RCB. - Weather Update (6.50 pm)
Currently, the weather in Bangalore is clear. There are scattered cloudy weather and according to the weather department, there is a possibility of rain in the city after 7 pm and thunderstorms are expected between 7 pm and 11 pm and there is a 51 per cent chance of rain.
It has already rained in some parts of the city in the afternoon. However, there was no rain in the surrounding areas of Chinnaswamy Stadium. - Milestone Alert
1. Virat Kohli needs 76 runs to become the first player to amass 8000 runs in IPL history.
2. Virat Kohli needs only one four to complete 700 fours in IPL and become the second player to reach the landmark after Shikhar Dhawan.
3. MS Dhoni need only one six to become the fourth leading six-hitter of the IPL. - Interesting Facts
RCB became the fourth side to have sequences of five successive wins and defeats each in the same season after Deccan Chargers (Now Sunrisers Hyderabad) in 2010, Punjab Kings in 2020 and Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2022 are the other teams to have such mixed league runs. - Squads
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh and Saurav Chauhan.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wk), Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Moeen Ali, Nishant Sindhu, Mitchell Santner, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh, RS Hangargekar and Aravelly Avanish. - MS Dhoni Strike Rates (Year-wise)
226.66 - 2024 (So far)
182.45 - 2023
162.89 - 2013
158.70 - 2011
150.66 - 2018
148.40 - 2014
136.66 - 2010
135.23 - 2016
134.62 - 2019
133.54 - 2008
128.77 - 2012
127.20 - 2009
123.40 - 2022
121.96 - 2015
116.27 - 2020
116.00 - 2017
106.54 - 2021 - Playoff Scenario
Currently, CSK (14 points, NRR 0.528) while RCB is placed seventh with 12 points and a net run rate of 0.387. A washout will take CSK through to the playoffs, while RCB will need to win by at least 18 runs or chase the target with about 11 balls to spare to surpass Chennai, Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants' net run rate and qualify.
Weather Update
We have good news from the venue as Bengaluru has seen blue skies and sunshine on Saturday morning. - RCB vs CSK Head-to-head records
Overall Matches played: Matches: 33, RCB: 10, CSK: 22, N/R: 1
At M Chinnaswamy Stadium: Matches: 10, RCB: 4, CSK: 5, N/R: 1
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