There was an overwhelming feeling that if Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was to notch up a win, it had to be done by Virat Kohli and A.B. de Villiers.
Their fourth-wicket partnership had only begun to blossom, when an outstanding piece of wicketkeeping by M.S. Dhoni snuffed out all signs of life.
After de Villiers was sent back, RCB could not recover, and slipped to its third successive defeat.
The duo got together with 121 runs needed off 70 balls, in pursuit of 182. A couple of sixes from de Villiers kept the chase on track, before Dhoni stamped his presence. Kohli and his partner hesitated on the second run, allowing Dwayne Smith to fire in a throw from deep cover. Though out of position, Dhoni gathered cleanly and deflected the ball onto the stumps to catch de Villiers short.
The next six wickets, including that of a perseverant Kohli (51 off 42 balls), could only manage 69 runs, giving Chennai Super Kings (CSK) its fourth win in five outings.
Brilliant effort It was another inspired effort on the field which had dealt RCB its first blow. Opener Manvinder Bisla’s thick edge seemed set to land well behind Faf du Plessis, but the South African scurried backwards and caught the ball with an outstretched right hand.
Ashish Nehra took his second wicket by cleaning up Rilee Rossouw, leaving the home team at 33 for two. This dismissal brought Chris Gayle’s absence into focus.
Nehra eventually finished with figures of four for 10.
After being put in to bat, CSK was reined in by the RCB spinners, Yuzvendra Chahal (three for 40) and Iqbal Abdulla (two for 36). The inclusion of fit-again pacer Mitchell Starc meant that CSK was unable to blaze away early. It was, however, his new-ball partner who made the early breakthrough.
Leg-spinner Chahal kept the explosive Brendon McCullum on tenterhooks with two perfect deliveries in the second over, and followed up with a googly. McCullum did pick it, but his cut was caught at point. Smith (39, 29b) struggled at first, before breaking free.
Suresh Raina came to the crease with his team at 12 for 1 in 1.5 overs, and it was off to the races immediately. He opened his account with a mistimed slogged boundary to long-off, and then took a particular liking to the spinners.
A crisp 32-ball 62, which included four fours and six sixes, came to an end when a big shot failed to go the distance.
Ravindra Jadeja (8, 8b), promoted ahead of du Plessis, failed to find the middle. It was du Plessis (33, 18b, 4x4, 1x6) who then did the late hitting.
The CSK captain may have got the batting-order shuffle wrong, but he more than made up with his ’keeping gloves on.
(This article has been corrected for a factual error)
