Royal Challengers Bangalore registered an important win against Chennai Super Kings, which has kept them afloat in the race to the playoffs. Batting first, RCB posted 173 runs in 20 overs, which seemed insufficient at first. Openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis shared 62 runs for the first wicket, after which Mahipal Lomror top-scored with a knock of 42. Down the order, Rajat Patidar and Dinesh Karthik also played important cameos.
For CSK, Maheesh Theekshana picked up three wickets while Moeen Ali chipped in with two. Dwaine Pretorius also picked up a wicket, but he was the most expensive bowler with an economy of 14 runs per over.
Chasing 174 to win, CSK openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway put up a 54-run stand for the first wicket. But the middle order fell like a pack of cards. The likes of Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni were all dismissed on single-digit scores. Eventually, the Super Kings could manage just 160 in their 20 overs and with that loss, they are now virtually out of the race to the playoffs. Mumbai Indians and CSK are the two teams that are out of playoff contention midway through the tournament.
"We did well to restrict them to 170 runs. What really let us down was the batsmanship. I feel especially when we are chasing, you know what's required on the board and what the bowlers are doing," said Dhoni after the match.
"At times you have to curb your instinct and try to see what the situation is demanding rather than just play your shot. If the batsmanship had been slightly better, maybe in the last few overs we wouldn't have needed many runs," he added.
Image credit: IPL
