Friday Evening saw the inception of one of VIVO IPL’s biggest rivalries. It was the South Indian derby as the boys from Bengaluru took on the Chennai guys. The star of the game was Dwayne Bravo who along with Shardul Thakur bowled a match-winning spell in the first innings. For RCB the best batsmen were their opening duo of Virat and Devdutt. RCB set a target of 156 which was chased by CSK in 18.1 overs with 6 wickets in hand. With the bat for CSK, it was a team effort with everyone scoring 25+ runs. Here’s a look: –
Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal batting: –
This dynamic duo set the tone up for a big score in the initial 4 overs. Virat was looking in solid touch as he smoked the first 2 deliveries of the game to the boundary. Both the balls were directed on his pads. On the other hand, Devdutt took his time to settle in. They belted the Chennai bowlers for 10 overs. RCB was looking for a big score and a good foundation was ready. Virat made sure that the singles were converted to doubles while Devdutt was dealing in boundaries. Virat’s class with the bat was in full display. Not before Bravo ended Virat’s innings in the 12th over dismissing him caught at deep mid-wicket by Jadeja.
Kohli was dismissed for 53 off 41 balls. Devdutt then joined hands with ABD. After the fall of Kohli’s wicket, it was then downhill for Bengaluru. ABD failed to get into the groove and his innings were ended by Shardul. And in the very same over Shardul dismissed DevD too! It was a rash ramp shot that Dev played half-heartedly. Maxwell then walked in next and did try to finish the innings by a few meaty blows but he too was dismissed in the 18th over. RCB then scrambled for whatever bonus runs were available and ended up with 156/6.
Chennai Super Kings Batting: –
The Chennai boys made a complete team effort to chase down this score. They never let the bowlers settle in. The move of Virat to play Navdeep Saini didn’t pay good dividends as Saini was leaking runs and looked off-color. The Chennai openers played in exactly a similar fashion to the Bangalore lads. They slammed the bowlers all over the park. They meant business. This on-slaught was ended by Yuzi, the wizard. Yuzi dismissed Gaikwad for 38 of 26 balls. The very next over saw Faf handing out a catch to Navdeep. It was a good sideward catch. Moeen and Ambati then held the ground. They made sure that the scoreboard kept moving and played big shots too.
Ambati ended with 32 of 22 balls by throwing his wicket to Harshal Patel. While Ali was dismissed for 22. This was the time where RCB could capitalize as CSK were 133-4! But they failed to mount the pressure. Suresh Raina and MS then assured that the chase doesn’t falter anymore and got the victory. Dwayne Bravo was adjudged “Man of the Match”.
