Bangalore: Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s scintillating 48-ball unbeaten 84 went in vain as his side failed to cross the line by just one run in yet another edge-of-the-seat contest against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, here on Sunday.
Apart from Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu (29), all the other Chennai batsmen failed to click. However, it was their captain who almost single-handedly took his side on the verge of an impossible win before failing to snatch two runs off the final delivery of the mouth-watering clash. For RCB, Umesh Yadav and Dale Steyn picked up two wickets each while Yuzvendra Chahal and Navdeep Saini shared two wickets between them.
Chasing a modest 162, the defending champions were off to the worst possible start as they lost opener Shane Watson (5) and Suresh Raina (0) with just six runs on board, thanks to pacer Steyn’s blows on successive deliveries in the very first over. Umesh further jolted CSK after packing back opener Faf du PLessis (5) and Kedhar Jadhav (9) in quick succession as the visitors were left reeling at 28/4 in 5.5 overs.
Rayudu and Dhoni then forged a crucial 59-run partnership. However the former couldn’t continue for long as Chahal joined the party, dismissing Rayudu in the 14th over. New batsman Ravindra Jadeja also fell soon as a confusion between him and Dhoni while taking a quick single ended the former’s stay.
Despite wickets falling from the other end, Dhoni kept the game alive with some lusty blows enroute another half-century. With 35 needed off the final two overs, CSK lost Dwayne Bravo. But Dhoni kept his side in the hunt by hitting Saini for 10 runs before clobbering Umesh for 24 runs in the final five deliveries as it looked like Chennai will once again clinch a last-ball thriller.
However, Dhoni failed to collect the much-needed two runs off the final delivery as Bangalore kept their play-off hopes alive, winning their third game out of the 10 matches they have played so far. Despite the result, Chennai stays at the top of the points table with 14 points.
Earlier, opener Parthiv Patel’s (53 off 37) half-century followed by Moeen Ali’s quick 16-ball 26 propelled Bangalore to 161/7. (IANS)
Brief Scores
Royal Challengers
161/7 (20 Overs)
(P Patel 53,
M Ali 26;
D Chahar 2/25)
Super Kings
160/8 (20 Overs)
(M Dhoni 84*,
A Rayudu 29;
D Steyn 2/29)
