Ravindra Jadeja’s all-round show left RCB shell shocked as they suffered a massive 69-run loss which brought an end to their four-match winning streak. The left-handed CSK all-rounder smashed a stunning 62 not out before picking up three wickets with the ball to dominate the game.
Everything that Ravindra Jadeja touched turned to gold in Chennai Super Kings’ game against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Be it with the bat, ball or even in the field, you couldn’t keep him out of the game. He smashed a stunning 62 off 28 balls, which included a massive 37-run over off Harshal Patel before returning with figures of 4-1-13-3 and affected a runout.
It was the 37-run 20th over that derailed RCB’s game. They were very good with the ball until that point, and they even started off excellently with the bat in the powerplay. But as Virat Kohli mentioned in the post-match presentation, it was Jadeja who completely beat RCB, with the bat, with the ball and in the field.
MS Dhoni won the toss on a hot Sunday afternoon and opted to bat first, something no team has done in Mumbai this season. Both sides made a couple of changes. Moeen Ali sat out due to injury as CSK brought in Imran Tahir for him, and Dwayne Bravo replaced Lungi Ngidi. RCB brought in Dan Christian in place of Kane Richardson while Navdeep Saini played his first game of the season and replaced Shahbaz Ahmed.
The CSK openers got off to a solid start as they put on 51 runs in the powerplay. Faf du Plessis was once again the aggressor at the top as he raced away to 27 off 19 deliveries while Ruturaj Gaikwad got to 22 off 18. The first time this season, the RCB bowlers did not pick a wicket in the powerplay. They bowled well in patches, but there were a few boundary balls in between, which cost them quite a bit.
The CSK opening pair went along nicely after the powerplay as well. The slower balls were getting stuck into the pitch. It was a tad difficult to walk in and play through the line. Yuzvendra Chahal got RCB’s first breakthrough as he had Gaikwad top-edging one to deep square leg. Suresh Raina walked in at No. 3 and looked fluent. He struck three sixes in his 18-ball stay.
CSK were pretty well placed at 110/1 in 13 overs with two set batsmen. A big flourish seemed to be on the cards, and they would’ve targeted 175-180. However, Harshal Patel came in and turned the game in one over. He dismissed Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis in the same over as both batters holed out, trying to play the big shots. The latter fell soon after reaching his second successive half-century this season.
Jadeja was dropped in the next over on 0 as Christian dropped a sitter at deep mid-wicket. Jamieson’s third over, which was the 16th of the innings, costed 17 as Jadeja struck a couple of boundaries while Ambati Rayudu hit a six as well. But Mohammed Siraj and Patel pulled things back nicely as they conceded just 20 runs, and Patel picked up the wicket of Rayudu in overs 17-19.
CSK were 154/4 at the start of the 20th over, and that’s when Jadeja just went berserk. He was batting on 26, and he suddenly went into beast mode as he smashed Patel for fixes sixes and a four along with a double in the over, which also included a no-ball. The 20th over cost a staggering 37 runs, which is joint-most expensive in the history of the IPL. That shot CSK’s score up to 191.
In reply, RCB got off to a flying start, courtesy of Devdutt Padikkal. The left-handed Karnataka opener went hammer and tongs at the top as he raced away to 32 off a mere 12 deliveries. That helped RCB lift to 44/0 in just three overs. But the back half of the powerplay just sucked the momentum from RCB and derailed their chase.
Sam Curran struck on the first ball of his second over as he had Virat Kohli edging one to Dhoni behind the stumps. In that over, he conceded just one run as well, and Washington Sundar, who was surprisingly promoted to No. 3, couldn’t get going. Shardul Thakur got the big wicket of Padikkal in the very next over as the Mumbai-born pacer had Padikkal caught at short fine-leg.
Glenn Maxwell walked in and started promisingly once again as he struck a couple of back to back boundaries to get off the mark. Washington Sundar’s misery came to an end as Jadeja came on to pick up his first wicket. That was the start of RCB’s collapse.
Jadeja knocked over Maxwell in his second over, and it was the fifth time in his IPL career that he picked up the wicket of Maxwell. Christian was runout a few balls later as Jadeja hit the stumps from the covers. The left-handed Saurashtra all-rounder then knocked over AB de Villiers to close out the game. Imran Tahir picked up a couple of wickets towards the end before Chahal and Siraj batted out the last four overs, which saw RCB crawl to 122/9.
This win propelled CSK to the top of the points table and ended RCB’s four-match winning streak.
Brief Scores
Chennai Super Kings 191/4 (Jadeja 62*, du Plessis 50, Patel 3/51) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 122/9 (Padikkal 34, Maxwell 22, Jadeja 3/13, Tahir 2/16) by 69 runs
