Dhoni, Rayudu hunt down 206, CSK beat RCB by 5 wickets

Chennai Super Kings won the toss and opted to field first against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni rolled back the clock with an outstanding innings, finshing the match with six in the last over to seal a fantastic victory for Chennai Super Kings over hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore on Wednesday.

Dhoni remained unbeaten on 70 off just 38 balls as Super Kings reached the the 206-run target with five wickets and two balls to spare.

Not to forget, the stunning innings from opener Ambati Rayudu, who scored 82 off 53 balls, helping Dhoni lay the foundation of the chase.

CSK needed 16 runs in the last over and Dhoni hit a six, his seventh of the night, to see his team through after Dwayne Bravo struck and a boundary and a six.

Batting first, RCB notched up a competitive 205 for eight riding on Ad de Villiers 30-ball 68 and Quinton de Kock's 53, but CSK chased down the target with two balls to spare.

Dhoni remained not out with seven seven maximums and a boundary, after adding 101 runs for the fifth wicket with Rayudu.

Chennai Super Kings were off to a bad start with Pawan Negi sending back Shane Watson with just eight runs on the board.

A 42-run partnership ensued between Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina before the experienced left-handed batsman fell for 11 in the sicth over.

Sam Billings came and went back to the dugout for the addition of just nine runs to the team total, while Ravindra Jadeka was bowled by Yuzvendra Chahal to leave CSK in a spot of bother at 74 for four.

However, Rayudu and skipper Dhoni had other ideas as the duo staged a fine recovery before bringing CSK right back into the game.

A flurry of sixes flowed from the blades of Rayudu and Dhoni as they constructed their innings keeping the required run rate in mind.

Umesh Yadav dropping a sitter to give Rayudu a life off Corey Anderson made things miserable for RCB as the batsman took full advantage of that by hitting the bowler for two successive sixes in the same over.

Before that, Pawan Negi was blasted for 19 runs with Dhoni using his strong bottom hand and power to hit two sixes, while Rayudu also got himself one maxium.

71 runs were required from the last five overs and the equation was brought down to 55 from 24 after that eventful 16th over by Anderson.

With CSK needing 45 from 18 balls, Dhoni hit a six to keep his team in the hunt, but Umesh made amends for his drop catch by running out Rayudu with a direct hit to bring another twist to the game.

Despite scoring 15 runs in the previous over, CSK needed 30 in the last two overs. CSK managed 16 ff the penultimate over, thanks to some dreadful bowling by Mohammed Shiraj, who conceded two wides and a no ball.

Bravo and Dhoni then finished the job.

RCB batting summary 

South Africans AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock's struck breezy half centuries to power Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to a mammoth 205/8 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Wednesday.

De Kock (53, 37 balls; 4x1, 6x4) played the perfect supporting role in the 103-run second wicket stand with de Villiers (68 off 30; 4x2, 6x8), who started from the word go to bring up his half century in just 23 deliveries.

Put in to bat, RCB got off to a decent 35-run start by skipper Virat Kohli (18) and de Kock before Shardul Thakur saw the back of the Indian captain, thanks to a smart catch by Ravindra Jadeja.

But the visitors wouldn't have imagined what was coming their way, as de Villiers started off by clobbering Harbhajan Singh for two consecutive sixes before launching left-arm spinner Jadeja to the skies.

Such was the dominance from the former Proteas skipper that the hosts raced to 87/1 midway into the innings, with both de Villiers and de Kock nearing their respective fifties.

AB de Villiers biggest IPL 2018 sixhttps://t.co/5VJEwsmc8E

— Faizal Khan (@faizalkhanm9) April 25, 2018

Despite being overshadowed by his senior partner, the southpaw brought up his half century in style, tonking Shane Watson for a six over deep mid-wicket.

On the first ball of the very next over, de Villiers, who had earlier clobbered leg-spinner Imran Tahir for two massive sixes, took Thakur to the cleaners thrice consecutively to bring up his half century.

With both the RCB batsmen going hammer and tongs, CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni threw the ball to his West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, and the "Champion" responded in style by packing back de Kock with a smart catch off his own follow through.

Tahir then joined the party by bagging the prized scalp of de Villiers and new man Corey Anderson (2) in the very next over to restore parity into the match.

De Villiers miscued Tahir's tossed-up delivery pitched outside off-stump for Sam Billings to complete the formalities at deep cover.

Tahir immediately got rid of New Zealand's Anderson with a googly as Harbhajan Singh completed a brilliant catch at slip.

With the hosts comfortably placed at 142/4, Mandeep Singh (32 off 17; 4x1, 6x3) and Colin de Grandhomme (11) struck a few lusty blows towards the end, even as two run-outs and a wicket in the final over could not stop RCB from crossing the 200-run mark.

Toss Report

Chennai Super Kings won the toss and opted to field first against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.

Both sides have made two changes in their playing XI. RCB have brought in Pawan Negi and Colin de Grandhomme (RCB debut) in place of Manan Vohra and Chris Woakes.

"Good to see the mix of yellow and red in the same stadium. Looking forward to a good game of cricket. We just need to focus on one game at a time. CSK have played some good cricket. Two teams play well and stay at the top and four others are fighting for two spots. We are in the group of four. We need to keep playing the kind of cricket we played in the last game. We have two changes as well,” said Kohli.

With four wins from five matches, Super Kings are on a high. However, Dhoni’s side is not under any impression of complacency. Karn Sharma and Faf du Plessis make way for Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir

“It (the pitch) looks good from the top, but when you rub the fingers over it, it's slightly wet. Sometimes it affects, sometimes it doesn't. It's a tough ground to defend. We have got equal amount of support (smiles),” said Dhoni.

With their backs against the wall, RCB are desperate for a win. However, the current form and stats both are heavily on Chennai’s favour. Though Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK lead RCB 13-7 in the overall head-to-head record, both teams have won three games each out of the seven played at the high-scoring Chinnaswamy Stadium with one producing a no-result.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock(w), Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Corey Anderson, Colin de Grandhomme, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Billings, MS Dhoni(w/c), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir