RCB pen history at Chinnaswamy with an electrifying victory over CSK

Call it drama, call it cinema and call it whatever you want to but last night Chinnaswamy stayed witness to some frenetic madness that would be going down in history as one of the rarest cricketing spectacles with RCB defying a mountain of odds to storm into the play-offs at the expense of the crestfallen Chennai Super Kings.

In an all-important clash, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and opted to field first. RCB had a solitary change from their last game as Glenn Maxwell came in for Will Jacks. Knowing the numerical equations inside out, the RCB openers were off to a flyer.

Faf du Plessis (54) and Virat Kohli (47) didn’t hold back their punches despite a dampener in the middle after the arrival of rain that intensified the frowns in the RCB dugout. Once play resumed, the two openers got back in their element after braving the initial halt and they piled up 78 runs for the opening stand before Mitchell Santner got the better of Virat Kohli.

Rajat Patidar arrived in the center and pulled off another reckoning stand alongside his skipper as RCB motored along perfectly with one foot on the accelerator. Captain Faf had to get out to an unfortunate dismissal but that did very little to dampen the spirits of the soaring hosts.

Patidar (41) and Cameron Green (38*) brought out the big guns and kept on firing them until Chennai wasn’t hurt enough. The duo posted 71 runs off just 28 balls, propelling RCB to a platform from which they could swing for the fence. Despite Patidar falling short, breezy cameos from Dinesh Karthik (14) and Glenn Maxwell (16) saw RCB making it to 218 which gave them enough in the bank to keep on fighting.

Chennai needed 201 to qualify and obviously 219 to storm into the play-offs with a victory. Much to their woes, however, Glenn Maxwell stunned them first ball as he claimed their captain for a golden duck. Trying to swivel across before putting it away, Gaikwad completely misjudged the angle and ended up holing out to Yash Dayal at short fine.

Daryl Mitchell couldn’t get the wheels in motion either as a back-tracking Kohli took a fine grab to remove him for four while CSK wobbled at 19/2. It was Ajinkya Rahane and Rachin Ravindra who steadied the ship and eventually brought out the cannons, staging a solid partnership on which the visitors pinned their fightback.

With the required rate climbing someone had to go after the bowlers and Ajinkya Rahane took it upon him to hit the pedal. Despite the gung-ho looming large in his eyes, Jinks failed to brave Lockie Ferguson as Faf completed a simple take to put the pressure back on CSK. Rachin Ravindra (61) kept on fighting but a horrible mix-up in the end saw the Kiwi youngster return to the pavilion.

Shivam Dube’s attempt to go big against Cameron Green would only go as far as Lockie Ferguson at long-on as he departed for a struggling seven. Mitchell Santner was next in the long-line of the departees as Faf du Plessis pulled off a superhuman catch at widish mid-off to send CSK spiralling to the cusp of madness.

Despite RCB’s barnstorming display in the middle, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni, two of CSK’s most seasoned warriors kept the flame alive and it was a full-blown war where haymakers were thrown from both ends. With 35 needed off 12 to qualify, CSK had to go big.

They managed to steal 18 off Fergie’s penultimate over while Yash Dayal was assigned with the nightmarish task of defending 17 runs in the final over against a set Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The first ball from Dayal was a miscued full-toss and MSD sent it flying outside the stadium.

With 11 needed off five to qualify, CSK were obviously the favourites. However, Dayal had a bit more magic left up his sleeve as he whipped in a back-of-the-hand length ball and Dhoni, tempted by the idea of dispatching the one in the slot for another biggie, ended up skying the effort. Young Swapnil Singh held onto his nerve and the catch for his dear life that sent the 12th Man Army leaping in unbridled ecstasy as Dhoni fell.

With 11 needed off 4, Dayal bowled another slower one and Shardul Thakur had no idea about how he could connect that one. The following ball was another slower one and Thakur could only edge it away to Faf at short third, stealing away a single. 10 was needed off the last two and Jadeja had to swing.

Dayal went for another drifter in the corridor of uncertainty and despite Jaddu’s full fledged swing, he couldn’t connect. That dot ball almost cemented RCB’s extraordinary turnaround and all that was expected was a legal delivery to finish off the formalities.

Yash Dayal redeemed himself from last year’s fallout with another slow one, angling away from Jaddu as the ball was gobbled up by Dinesh Karthik behind the stumps, sending RCB hammer and tongs into the play-offs. It was a drama of the highest order as RCB clinched their sixth win of the trot and also booked a play-off berth from the very edge of elimination. Faf du Plessis won the Player of the Match for his brilliant half-century up front and two stunning catches.