RCB script a fairytale turnaround

Bengaluru: Sport is filled with several incredible comebacks and another one unfolded on Saturday. Staring down the barrel at the halfway stage of IPL-17 after losing seven out of eight games, a determined Royal Challengers Bengaluru chalked up their sixth win on the bounce to stunningly, rather miraculously, secure the final play-off ticket.

Up against nemesis Chennai Super Kings in a do-or-die clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, the Royal Challengers batted with purpose and bowled their hearts out to send the defending champions packing with a nerve-jangling 27-run win.

Openers Faf Du Plessis (54) and Virat Kohli (47) set the foundation with scorching innings before in-form Rajat Patidar (41) and Cameron Green (38 n.o.) provided the fireworks in the middle and death as RCB posted a competitive 218/5.

The target to defend for the Royal Challengers, however, was 201. They had to restrict Chennai Super Kings below that mark in order to get to 14 points and usurp the five-time champions on net run-rate to grab the last available play-offs spot. They looked like doing so when they reduced the Super Kings to 129/6 in the last ball of the 15th over that left the five-time champions needing 72 in 30 balls with Ravindra Jadeja and old warhorse MS Dhoni at the crease. 

The duo, who have helped CSK post some incredible comebacks over the years threatened to do with a clock-turning 61-run stand off 27 that almost sent shivers down the RCB spine. At the end, CSK needed to score 17 off the final over to qualify for the play-offs and it was reduced to 11 of five balls as Dhoni smashed a massive six off Yash Dayal. Tensions rose but Dayal kept his cool, dismissing Dhoni off the very next ball and then conceding just one run after that as the Chinnaswamy went into a frenzy.      

Earlier, Royal Challengers rode on a strong start and rousing finish to post a competitive total. The immensely experienced Kohli and Du Plessis, well aware of how important a strong foundation is in the virtual knockout, raced away to 31/0 when heavy rain lashed the stadium and halted play for 41 minutes.

When play resumed to a huge roar at the venue, CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, possibly at the suggestion of his predecessor Dhoni, instantly swapped pacers Tushar Deshpande and Shardul Thakur for spinners Mahesh Theekshana and Mitchell Santner.

Theekshana and Santner, extracting good turn and bounce from the pitch, made life difficult for Kohli and Du Plessis right away. Meddling brilliantly before the rain, both Kohli and Du Plisses struggled against Theekshana and Santner, playing and missing several balls. From 31/0 in 3 overs, RCB crawled to 42/0 at the end of Powerplay.

Kohli, who loves playing on May 18 having scored two successive centuries on the same date, then decided to throw caution to the wind. From a batter who loves stroking the ball along the ground, Kohli opted for the aerial route as he creamed Santner and Ravindra Jadeja for sixes to give RCB the much-needed momentum. However, just when he started to go berserk, he was dismissed by Santner in the 10th over.

Du Plessis then took over the baton, ensuring the momentum continued. But he too was dismissed against the run of play, adjudged run-out in controversial circumstances. However, Green and Patidar staged an incredible counter-attack in the middle and death, forging a game-changing 71-run alliance off 28 balls for the third wicket.

SCORE BOARD  ROYAL CHALLENGERS BENGALURU: Virat Kohli c Mitchell b Santner 47 (29b 3x4 4x6) Faf du Plessis (run out) 54 (39b 3x4 3x6) Rajat Patidar c Mitchell b Thakur 41 (23b 2x4 4x6) Cameron Green (not out) 38 (17b 3x4 3x6) Dinesh Karthik c Dhoni b Deshpande 14 (6b 1x4 1x6) Glenn Maxwell c Dhoni b Thakur 16 (5b 2x4 1x6) Mahipal Lomror (not out) 0 (1b). Extras (LB-1 W-7) 8. TOTAL (for 5 wkts 20 overs) 218. 

Fall of wickets: 1-78 (Kohli) 2-113 (du Plessis) 3-184 (Patidar) 4-201 (Karthik) 5-218 (Maxwell).   Bowling: Tushar Deshpande 4-0-49-1 Shardul Thakur Maheesh Theekshana 4-0-25-0 Mitchell Santner 4-0-23-1 Ravindra Jadeja 3-0-40-0 Simarjeet Singh 1-0-19-0.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Ruturaj Gaikwad c Dayal b Maxwell 0 (1b) Rachin Ravindra (run out) 61 (37b 5x4 3x6) Daryl Mitchell c Kohli b Yash Dayal 4 (6b) Ajinkya Rahane c Du Plessis b Ferguson 33 (22b 3x4 1x6) Shivam Dube c Ferguson b Green 7 (15b) Ravindra Jadeja (not out) 42 (22b 3x4 3x6) Mitchell Santner c Du Plessis b Siraj 3 (4b) MS Dhoni c Swapnil b Dayal 25 (13b 3x4 1x6) Shardul Thakur (not out) 1 (2b). Extras (B-4 LB-1 NB-2 W-8) 15. TOTAL (for 7 wkts 20 overs) 191.  Fall of wickets:  1-0 (Gaikwad) 2-19 (Mitchell) 3-85 (Rahane) 4-115 (Ravindra) 5-119 (Dube) 6-129 (Santner) 7-190 (Dhoni).

Bowling: Glenn Maxwell 4-0-25-1 Mohammed Siraj 4-0-35-1 Yash Dayal 4-0-42-2 Swapnil Singh 2-0-13-0 Karn Sharma 1-0-14-0 Lockie Ferguson 3-0-39-1 Cameron Green 2-0-18-1.

Result: RCB won by 27 runs. PoM: Faf du Plessis.

RCB’s next match: Eliminator (May 22 Ahmedabad).