RCB crush CSK by 50 runs to end 17-year wait for a Chepauk victory
Chennai, Mar 28 (PTI): Skipper Rajat Patidar’s fortuitous fifty received excellent support from an unerring set of bowlers as Royal Challengers Bengaluru snapped a 17-year winless streak at Chepauk with a huge 50-run victory over Chennai Super Kings here on Friday.
Having fought their way to a competitive 196/7, RCB applied the perfect squeeze on CSK with early strikes and the five-time winners crumbled without any resistance, making 146/8.
CSK’s defeat to RCB in the “Southern Derby” in their own "Anbuden" (Den of Love) was their first since the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008.
The value of the victory could have gauged from the wide smile on the face of old warhorse Virat Kohli, the only one man in this RCB line-up who was part of that distant 2008 victory.
RCB's win came courtesy a heady mix of orthodox game of giving it all with the bat and stifling the opposition with regular wickets.
But the Royal Challengers also had to thank CSK’s shocking lack of gumption as the home side never landed a punch in reply.
CSK never recovered from a poor start which saw them losing skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (0) among three wickets inside the first two overs.
The slide began in the second over when Rahul Tripathi (5) lobbed an easy catch to short midwicket off Josh Hazlewood (3/21) while attempting a pull.
Hazlewood dealt a body blow to CSK on the final ball when he had in-form Gaikwad caught at deep square leg for a four-ball duck, off a top edge which flew high in the air.
CSK slipped to 8/3 soon when Deepak Hooda edged one behind off Bhuvneshwar Kumar while looking to guide the ball to third man, which left the five-time champions in deep trouble.
Rachin Ravindra (41, 31 balls) and Sam Curran (8) did well to arrest the slump but in bargain they could not whittle down the asking rate, which swelled to 13 runs an over.
In the ninth over, Curran went after Liam Livingstone (4-0-28-2) but was caught at long on by Krunal Pandya and it was evident at this point that CSK were staring at a heavy loss.
The regular fall of wickets never really allowed Ravindra to take the aggressive route, and his resistance ended in the 13th over when he chopped Yash Dayal onto his stumps (2/18).
Dayal reaped further benefits of the mounting pressure when he had Shivam Dube (19) playing one onto the stumps.
CSK sent in R Ashwin here, and not MS Dhoni, which told CSK had given up the fight with 116 to get with seven overs in hand.
Dayal’s twin strikes in the 13th over harmed CSK as much as RCB’s Impact Sub Suyash Sharma's fine spell, delivering a measly 4-0-32-0 to tie down the opposition batters.
Dhoni struck three fours and two sixes to make 30 not out off 16 balls to go past Suresh Raina as CSK's highest run-scorer in IPL history, but that was only a minor consolation point.
Earlier, Patidar rode on his luck to make a vital 51 and along with Tim David (8-ball 22) lifted Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 196 for seven.
Patidar was dropped thrice by CSK fielders but he made most of the reprieves to score 51 off 32 balls (4x4s, 3x6s), providing his side a much-needed impetus in the middle-overs, while David's late burst made up for a mid-phase slump.
Early fireworks form Phil Salt (32 off 16 balls, 5x4s, 1x6s) and Devdutt Padikkal (27 off 14 balls, 2x4s, 2x6s) had masked Virat Kohli’s (31, 30 balls) struggle but their dismissals left RCB in doldrums.
Brief Scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 196 for 7 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 51, Virat Kohli 31, Philip Salt 32, Tim David 22 not out; Noor Ahmad 3/36, Matheesha Pathirana 2/36).
Chennai Super Kings: 146 for 8 in 20 overs (Rachin Ravindra 41, MS Dhoni 30 not out; Josh Hazlewood 3/21, Yash Dayal 2/18, Liam Livingstone 2/28).
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Vaibhav Sooryavanshi''s third-fastest IPL ton propels RR to 228/6 against SRH
Jaipur (PTI): Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (103) went hammer and tongs for the third fastest hundred in IPL history off 36 balls, powering Rajasthan Royals to a huge 228 for six against Sunrisers Hyderabad, in an IPL match here on Saturday.
Sooryavanshi made SRH pay a heavy price for an early reprieve when he was on 32 to notch up his second hundred in the league and first of the season, which followed three whirlwind fifties earlier.
The 15-year-old once again displayed his rich repertoire of strokes executed with brute force and timing, as Rajasthan played their first match of the season here at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. He used the long handle to maximum effect to clobber 12 sixes as against five fours in his 37-ball 103.
He brought up his ton with a six off Sakib Hussain (1/62) on his 36th delivery, recording the third fastest century in the IPL after his own 35-ball hundred last year and Chris Gayle’s 30-ball ton for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in April 2013.
Sooryavanshi was off the blocks quickly when he smacked Praful Hinge (1/49) for two sixes on the on side and two down the wicket on the final four balls of the opening over, making a rapid start and didn’t look back.
An on-song Sooryavanshi rarely missed a freebie to punish as he garnered runs on both the sides of the wicket while putting on two robust stands at the top to continue RR’s charge.
His rapid start helped in adding 40 runs off only 14 balls for the opening wicket while he consolidated for RR with a 112-run stand for the second wicket with Dhruv Jurel, who chipped in with a 35-ball 51 with eight fours and two sixes.
Sooryavanshi's charge ended immediately after completing his ton when he missed a scoop off Hussain and was pinned in front of the stumps for a leg-before.
Meanwhile, Jurel was also lucky twice as Hussain could not hold on to two tough return chances in his follow-through.
Even as SRH managed to get the rid of the dangerous Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) early, they erred when the opportunity was created by Eshan Malinga (2/38) in the fifth over to remove Sooryavanshi.
On a length ball, Sooryavanshi looked to heave it to the on-side but mistimed it. Aniket Reddy covered some distance at deep midwicket on his right but the ball popped out of his hands for a costly drop.
Sooryavanshi went on to complete his fifty off 15 balls with a six in the sixth over from Hussain.
RR's innings was also spruced up by Donovan Ferreira's late 16-ball 33, studded with three sixes and as many fours.
Amid the charge from RR batters, SRH had their regular skipper Pat Cummins returning with impressive numbers of 4-0-27-1 with his solitary wicket being that of his counterpart Riyan Parag (7).
