In the 35th fixture of the VIVO IPL 2021, Chennai Super Kings beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets. The CSK batting line-up chased down the below-par target of 157 with 11 balls to spare. RCB 156/6, Devdutt Padikkal (70), DJ Bravo (3/24). CSK 157/4, Ruturaj Gaikwad (38), Harshal Patel (2/25).
Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and chose to field. Royal Challengers Bangalore was off to an overwhelming start as the openers started attacking from the first ball itself. The three-time IPL champions made a comeback with the ball in the second half of the innings and restricted RCB to a total of 156 at the loss of six wickets. CSK’s in-form opening pair gave a confident start in the run-chase. The opening pair conjured 71 runs for the first wicket partnership before Ruturaj Gaikwad was caught by Virat Kohli in the ninth over. Gaikwad’s opening partner Faf du Plessis was also sent back to the pavilion in the following over on Glenn Maxwell’s bowling. Moeen Ali and Ambati Rayudu were the two new batsmen at the crease, they stitched a small partnership of 47 runs which stirred CSK’s ship in the run-chase after two quick wickets. The Purple Cap holder, Harshal Patel dismissed both the batsmen in his consecutive overs. A turnaround was on the cards for RCB until the two CSK veterans came to the crease. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni took the Chennai-based franchise over the finish line without much effort.
Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal were the major contributors for RCB. The century-stand partnership between the openers helped Bangalore to get off to an amazing start. Kohli’s men couldn’t sustain the momentum throughout the innings, they missed out on an opportunity of posting a competitive total.
Dwayne Bravo was the pick among the bowlers for CSK with three wickets to his name. Shardul Thakur pocketed two while Deepak Chahar had one scalp. For RCB, Patel grabbed two wickets while Yuzvendra Chahal and Maxwell had one wicket each.
With this victory, CSK has acquired the number one spot with 14 points while RCB is at the third position with 10 points in nine games.