IPL 2018: Match 35, CSK vs RCB, Review: Super Kings thump the visitors to rise to the top of the table

The juggernaut continued for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as they thumped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 6 wickets. It was the calmness of MS Dhoni eventually which won them the game in the end. But the bowlers had done the job early on by restricting the visitors to a meagre total of 127 runs. The credit has to go to the duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh who shared 5 wickets between them. However, it would be fair to say that RCB never arrived at the game with their batting faltering and they never had a chance with the ball.

CSK won the toss and opted to field first as they ringed in three changes to their line-up. While David Willey and Dhruv Shorey were handed debuts as Shardul Thakur returned to the side. KM Asif, Faf du Plessis and Karn Sharma were dropped from the team which lost to KKR in the last game. Even the visitors brought in Murugan Ashwin, AB de Villiers and Parthiv Patel in order to trump the Men in Yellow in their den away from the den.

Virat and ABD fail

The new opening duo of Parthiv Patel and Brendon McCullum strode out to the middle as MS Dhoni handed the new cherry to the debutant Willey. He bowled a decent over up front as the latter lost his patience in the very next over to start the proceedings for RCB. Lungi Ngidi was the beneficiary as the batsman toe ended the flat-batted smack as the ball eventually ended up in the hands of Thakur who was stationed at mid-on. The real jolt to them was the wicket of their skipper Virat Kohli who was castled by Ravindra Jadeja soon after the powerplay.

Soon in the next over, Harbhajan Singh ended De Villiers’ comeback as he needlessly tried to reverse sweep him only to be stumped by the master behind the stumps.

Parthiv rocks amidst the collapse

Meanwhile, Parthiv Patel played some delightful strokes and announced his comeback to the IPL. He looked fluent in his first match of the season while playing the trademark pickup shots with a whip of his wrists. The left-hander took full toll of the fielding restrictions early on and brought up his half-century off just 37 balls. But even he was sent back by Jadeja in the 13th over. It was all one-way traffic since then with wickets falling at regular intervals. At one stage, they were even struggling at 89/8 in the 16th over.

But Tim Southee rose to the occasion and his lusty blows in the last few overs propelled them to a fighting total of 127 runs after 20 overs. It was a clinical display from the bowlers of the hosts with questionable shots being played by their opposition batsmen as well.

Cautious start from CSK

The Men in Yellow backed Ambati Rayudu to open the innings along with Shane Watson. But the latter was dismissed early today courtesy a dream delivery from Umesh Yadav. It was sheer pace from him as the ball was aimed right at the off-stump which swung a bit and Watson played down the wrong line. The start was cautious from the hosts as they concentrated on not losing the wickets early on.

Suresh Raina played some delightful shots after the powerplay overs but he was sent back on 25 by Umesh courtesy the brilliance from Southee in the outfield. Meanwhile, Rayudu had got himself going and was set to win the game for his team but things changed in the 12th over. He was scalped by Murugan Ashwin off his first delivery of the spell even as Colin De Grandhomme took the wicket of Dhruv Shorey to make the game interesting. RCB would’ve been ahead in the game had Parthiv and Yuzvendra Chahal dropped the catch of Dwayne Bravo.

Cool Dhoni and Bravo finish it off

It was getting too close in the end as the spinners and the Kiwi continued bowling well. The second strategic time-out arrived with 39 runs to get off the last 5 overs. The shift in gears was sensed straightaway then as Bravo rocked back on a short delivery from Ashwin and sent it out of the park even as Dhoni also scored a boundary in the same over to settle the nerves a bit.

However, the introduction of Chahal in the 18th over ended the game with MS Dhoni launching him in the stands with three brutal sixes. The ice-cool man came to the party when it mattered once again and thumped the RCB by 6 wickets as he remained unbeaten on 31 off 23 balls.

Brief Scores

Royal Challengers Bangalore 127/9 after 20 overs (P Patel 53, T Southee 36; R Jadeja 3/18, H Singh 2/22)

Chennai Super Kings 128/4 after 18 overs (A Rayudu 32, MS Dhoni 31*; U Yadav 2/15)

Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 6 wickets

Man of the Match: Ravindra Jadeja