IPL 2021 - CSK vs RCB - Five backend strikes by Bravo, Shardul fizz out RCB; CSK numero uno again

Chennai Super Kings 157 for 4 (Gaikwad 38, Rayudu 32, Harshal 2-25) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 156 for 6 (Padikkal 70, Kohli 53, Bravo 3-24, Thakur 2-29) by six wickets

CSK claims top spot in Points table, RCB remain at 3. (©BCCI/IPL)

Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) top and middle-order collapsed in the face of some innovative bowling interspersed with variation by Dwayne Bravo (3/24) and Shardul Thakur (2/29) after a brilliant partnership by the openers Devdutt Padikkal (70) and Virat Kohli (53) in the first half.

The two partnerships for Chennai Super Kings - first between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis and then between Ambati Rayadu and Moeen Ali - helped them in chasing down the target of 157 runs in 18.1 overs.

From 111 for 0 in 13 overs, RCB could manage only 156 for 6 (©BCCI/IPL)

Dhoni’s inventive field setting helps eke out Virat Kohli’s wicket; RCB choked from 111/0 in 13 overs to 156/5 in 20

It was excellent captaincy on display by MS Dhoni as he used Dwayne Bravo exceedingly well in the backend of RCB’s innings. Even though RCB openers Devdutt Padikkal and captain Virat Kohli registered a brilliant partnership of 111 runs in 13.2 overs, Bravo gave a breakthrough by dismissing the RCB captain after he scored a half-century. What was interesting was that Ravindra Jadeja was placed wide of long on by Dhoni almost close to the cow corner where Kohli holed out playing a short-arm jab off Bravo. Given Kohli’s liking for the on-side in limited overs, this was a move that paid off for the CSK skipper.

It was all downhill from that moment for RCB as their star batter AB de Villiers was subsequently dismissed by Shardul Thakur. In the final analysis, they managed a paltry 45 runs in the final 7 overs and ended up at 156/5 where they looked good for at least 190.

Earlier, Kohli came back into form against CSK when he scored 53 runs from 41 balls with six fours and a six. The other opener, Paddikal also scored an important 70 runs in 50 balls which included five fours and three sixes. They attacked almost every bowler in their partnership of 111 runs.

RCB’s overseas duo of AB de Villiers and Glen Maxwell’s poor form continued as they were not able to score runs once again in the second phase of the Indian Premier League 2021. De Villiers and Maxwell were only able to score 12 runs from 11 balls and 11 runs from nine balls respectively with a six each.

The Chennai bowlers stepped up the gas with an impressive bowling performance in the second half. Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar took three wickets, two wickets and one wicket respectively with figures of 4-0-24-3, 4-0-29-2 and 4-0-35-1 to show for. Josh Hazelwood and Ravindra Jadeja went wicketless and conceded 34 runs and 31 runs respectively in their allotted four overs.

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Team effort helps CSK see through the target

While chasing the target of 157 runs, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) reached the victory post on the first ball of the 19th over with six wickets in hand. The highlight of CSK’s batting was the partnership between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf Du Plesis.

Gaikwad and Du Plessis built up a partnership of 71 runs for the opening wicket. Gaikwad scored 38 runs from 26 balls which included four fours and a six while on the other hand, Du Plessis scored 31 runs from 26 balls with two fours and two sixes respectively.

Chennai lost both their openers at the score of 71 with two exceptional catches taken by Virat Kohli and Navdeep Saini off the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal and Glen Maxwell respectively.

After the dismissal of the openers, Rayadu and Moeen came to the crease and registered a partnership of 47 runs from just 29 balls. Rayadu scored 32 runs from 22 balls with three fours and a six while on the other hand, Moeen scored 23 runs from 18 runs which included two massive sixes.

IPL Points Table

CSK – Numero uno with 14 points and a better NRR than Delhi Capitals

With this win, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) moves to the top of the table again with 14 points in seven matches with a net run rate of +1.185 while on the other hand, RCB after losing Friday’s match are still in the top half of the table at number 3 with 10 points in nine games with a net run rate of -0.720.

On Saturday, September 25, 2021 the first double header of the second phase of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League will take place.

The first encounter is between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals at Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi beginning at 15:30 hours IST and the second fixture will take place between the bottom two teams in the points table, Punjab Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Sharjah International Stadium at 19:30 hours IST.

Stat Alert

- Amongst the current players, Dwayne Bravo has taken most wickets against RCB with 16 wickets.

- For RCB, Yuzvendra Chahal is the highest wicket-taker against CSK with 14 scalps and Harshal Patel is moving up strongly with eight wickets.

Twitter Reaction as CSK beat RCB

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by six wickets in 35th match of IPL 2021. MS Dhoni-led CSK claim top spot with seven wins from nine games. RCB remain at number three after Delhi Capitals. The southern derby is one of the most celebrated sports events in the country. Top two greats of the game MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli face each other. Fans and Cricket experts across the cricket fraternity shared their love for CSK and RCB via twitter. Here are some of finest twitter reactions between CSK vs RCB match:

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