A brilliant performance by spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh in the first innings and a calm finish by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the second, helped Chennai Super Kings (CSK) get an easy 6-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Saturday, 5 May in Pune.
Following the victory, Chennai dethroned Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) from the top-spot of the IPL points table while RCB are still at the sixth place.
Having elected to field on winniing the toss, CSK restricted the visitors to 127/9 in their 20 overs.
CSK were boosted by an excellent display by the hitherto off-colour Ravindra Jadeja, who roared back to form with figures of 3/18.
RCB’s innings started off poorly with South African pacer Lungi Ngidi foxing Brendon McCullum (5) with an off-cutter in the second over. Bengaluru were restricted to just 47 at the end of powerplay before Jadeja clean bowled Virat Kohli for 6.
Jadeja also departed Mandeep Singh (7) and Parthiv Patel (53) later, while Harbhajan Singh got AB De Villiers (1) and Murugan Ashwin (1). It was Tim Southee’s 36 run knock off 26 balls that helped RCB reach 127.
For CSK, orange cap holder Ambati Rayudu laid the foundation of a successful chase with 32 runs off 25 balls and Suresh Raina made 25 off 21.
CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni along with Dwayne Bravo (14*) gave the finishing touches with an unbeaten innings of 31 runs off 23 deliveries. The duo wrapped things up with 2 overs remaining.
"Spinners did not get turn (from the track) and I felt they needed to bowl really well. That's where Bhajju pa (Harbhajan) and Jadeja did well. On surfaces such as these, Jadeja bowls really well. He got Virat and then AB getting out (to Harbhajan) early helped him. We bowled well as a team," Dhoni said after the match.
(With inputs from IANS)
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