The fixture against RCB was CSK’s second derby match against Bangalore. Having won the first won and being in red hot form this season, made Chennai the favourites.
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CSK played as per reputation and got a stranglehold on the match since the very beginning. At no point did they allow RCB to run away with the match.
Despite having a gun batting line up, RCB struggled to get going as the Chennai bowlers tightened the screws further.
Here are five masterstrokes by CSK which helped them win the match against RCB:
Dismissing Virat and ABD early on
After Brendon McCullum got out in the 1st over, the onus was on the two big guns of the RCB batting line up – Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. However, as it turned out both threw away their wickets cheaply and RCB were left in the lurch.
On the first ball after the Poweplay overs, Dhoni threw the ball to Jadeja. He bowled a straight one on the off stump which Kohli terribly misjudged. The ball was a full one and had to be played on the front foot. Kohli hung back in an attempt to cut the ball. As a result, he missed it altogether and the ball crashed straight into the stumps.
In the very next over, AB de Villiers tried to turn the tables on veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh. He tried to play a reverse sweep on a ball outside off stump. But the ball turned as ABD missed the ball by a fair margin. In the process he lost his balance and his back leg stretched out of the crease. The rest was done by MS Dhoni behind the wickets who flicked off the bails in a jiffy to dismiss ABD.
Tight bowling
It was an all round bowling effort from CSK where every bowler played his own part. While spinners took the wickets, the pacers did not allow for easy scoring in the beginning. After Lungi Ngidi drew first blood, there was no looking back from there on for the Chennai bowlers.
They bowled tight line and lengths and always kept RCB under the pump. If it would not have been for Tim Southee, RCB could have bundled up on double digits.
The spin duo of Jadeja and Harbhajan
The pitch in Pune did not offer drastic help for the bowlers but it was slightly on the slower side. If one gave the ball a little bit of air, there was every chance for the ball to grip in the surface. This was exactly what Jadeja and Harbhajan did.
MS Dhoni did not introduce spin in the first 6 overs. Once the field restrictions were removed, he brought in Jadeja and Harbhajan from both ends. Both struck in quick succession, removing the mainstays of the RCB batting line up in ABD and Virat.
Solid Rayudu-Raina partnership
Chasing small totals is always tricky. If the team does not get off to a great start, there is every chance of the players playing overcautiously and ultimately ending up in bit of a fix.
When Shane Watson got out early, RCB would have sensed an opening. However, the way Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina played, they took the match away from the opposition.
Not only they did not allow the Bangalore bowlers any wickets, they kept the run rate ticking with an odd boundary. This way the chase never went under any sort of pressure.
Both stitched together a breezy 44-run partnership. By the time, Raina and Rayudu got out in the 9th and the 12th over respectively, CSK were well on their way to a victory.
Dhoni’s heroics
CSK’s chase was going well until they lost Raina, Rayudu and Dhruv Shorey in quick succession. This gave RCB an opportunity to claw back their way into the game.
However, once MS Dhoni stepped out to bat, he brought about a sense of calmness into the chase. He along with Dwayne Bravo took singles down to long off and long on to keep the scoreboard ticking. Once they proceed like this for 3-4 overs, all the pressure was removed.
All the same, once Yuzi Chahal was handed the ball, things rapidly changed. Mahi hit 3 sixes of Chahal to seal the match for Chennai. His strike rate which was once hovering around 80, suddenly jumped to over 130 as CSK reclaimed the top spot in the points table.
Once the match got over, Kohli also could not resist but praise the masterful chase led by MS Dhoni.
