IPL 2018: Dhoni does it with trademark 6, CSK back on top of points table

Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni led the chase of 206 and made sure CSK cross the line in the end. CSK beat RCB by 5 wickets. CSK are now on the top of VIVO IPL points table

Chasing a huge total of 206, Chennai Super Kings' captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu held their nerves after wickets fell in the initial overs.   Rayudu made a brilliant 82  runs to make the chase possible. CSK beat Royal Challengers Banglore by 5 wickets with two balls to spare. Dwayne Bravo hit some good shots in the last over to make it easy for MSD to hit the winning shot. With this win, CSK goes on the top of VIVO IPL points table. RCB could not bowl well in the final overs, despite having built pressure on CSK by reducing them to 74-4. The partnership between Ambati Rayudu and Dhoni turned it around for CSK. Siraj gave a few extras in the penultimate over. Prior to that, Negi bowled a costly over that brought down the required run rate.  

Earlier, Quick wickets and a few runouts helped CSK restrict RCB to 205 when they could have crossed 220 easily. Some brilliant bowling at the death helped CSK's cause. However, Washington Sundar hit it well and helped RCB touch 200 mark. CSK will now need 206 to win. 

Earlier, After a brilliant start given by AB De Villers and Quinton De Kock, RCB seemed to lose their way as wickets fell in packs. ABD, De Kock, Cory Anderson fell in back to back overs. Imran Tahir scalped ABD and Cory. 







Chennai Super Kings innings update: Over by over

Over 1: Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson open the batting for CSK. Pawan Negi starts off the bowling. Six, what a shot by Watson. He is gone. Caught at mid-off

Over 2: Brilliant bowling by Umesh Yadav. Just two from it. 

Over 3: Washington Sundar into the attack, Ambati Rayudu hits for a huge six, and here is one more. CSK: 24-1

Over 5: Siraj is in the attack. Good batting. CSK: 50-1

Over 6: Umesh continues, leading edge of Raina's bat, gone. Sam Billings is the new man in. Huge appeal for LBW, turned down. Flicked for four. Oh, that was a ripper, bisected Billings into half. CSK: 55-2

Over 7: Yuzvendra Chahal is into the attack, Swept by Billings for four. Billings steps out and misses, stumped. Ravindra Jadeja is new man in. CSK: 61-3

Over 8: Umesh is back, very good line. Dealing in singles. CSK: 66-3

Over 9: Chahal continues, Rayudu sweeps and misses. SIX. WIDE. Jadeja is bowled. CSK: 74-4

Over 10: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the new man. Wacks a huge six. 

Over 11: Chahal continues. Double.  Single to Dhoni. NO BALL, FREE HIT.  CSK: 90-4

Over 12: Corey Anderson is the new bowler. Huge appeal for LBW, reviewed. Turned down. SIX. Single to end the over. CSK: 101-4

Over 13: Chahal continues, single to Dhoni. Dot ball. Boundaries are not coming easily. CSK: 107-4

Over 14: Negi continues, bowls a half volley, goes for six, and again. Dot ball. One run. Now Rayudu hits for a six, brings up his 50. CSK: 126:4

Over 15: Mohammad Siraj is back. Rayudu wacks for a six. Single. Another dot. CSK 135-4

Over 16: Corey continues, Rayudu hits high in the air, dropped by Yadav. WIDE. Flat six by Rayudu. Six again. CSK: 151-4.

Over 17: Siraj continues, Single. Single to Rayudu. Good shot, two runs. Single. Double. Dhoni cuts for four. CSK: 161-4. Need 45 from 18 balls. Required run rate 15. 

Over 18: Corey Anderson to bowl, lofted over in-field, just for one. WIDE. What a six, straight over Corey's head. That is Dhoni's power. Single. Rayudu hits over point for four. Run out. What a throw. Umesh had one stump to aim, and he did it. Rayudu gone for 89. Single to end the over. CSK: 176-5

Chennai Super Kings innings analysis after end of innings

Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu came to open for CSK. Pawan Negi was introduced to restrict the run flow. Watson smashed him for a six but lost his wicket in the next ball. Raina walked in to accompany Rayudu. Umesh Yadav came to bowl the second over for RCB.  The quick change took place on the bowling side and Washington Sundar came in but ended up conceding two sixes. CSK was at 24/1 after 3 overs. Rayudu 15(10) and Raina 2(4).

The fourth over started on a high note for CSK as Rayudu smashed a six on Umesh Yadav’s delivery, Raina soon joined in and hit a boundary.  CSK were 35/1 after 4 overs. Rayudu kept the momentum in the 5th over as he smashed a Six to deep square leg on Mohammed Siraj’s second ball of the over. Raina yet again and smashed a boundary by creating some room off the fourth ball of the over. Rayudu ended the over with a boundary straight down the ground. CSK were 50/1 with the run rate of 10 per over.

Umesh Yadav came in to bowl the 6th over and got a leading edge of Raina on the very first ball, Raina flicked too early and Mandeep Singh made no mistake in backward point's and Raina was on his way to pavilion. Next ball, a big appeal for LBW but Umpire was not interested, Sam Billings took the advantage and hit a four to the deep square leg in the next ball. CSK were 55/2 after 6 overs with Rayudu at 31 (18) and Billings at 4 (5). The run rate was 9.28 with the required run rate at 10.79

Chahal came in to contain the situation in the 7th over but Billings welcomed him with a boundary on the first ball. Chahal got his revenge soon as he managed to get Billings stumped as he was down the track to hit a big shot. Ravindra Jadeja came in at number 5 for CSK. Excellent over from Chahal and CSK were 61/3 after 7 overs with Rayudu and Jadeja on the crease. Umesh Yadav took the responsibility of the 8th over and managed to restrict the flow as CSK resorted to singles only in the over, they were 66/3 after 8 overs. Chahal came for his second over with Rayudu to face his spin, the latter finally eased the pressure by hitting a six on the long off. CSK’s happiness was short lived as Chahal managed to get Jadeja under his net in the last ball of the over, RCB was on the front foot.

CSK were 73/4 after 9 overs with Rayudu at 42 (29) and Dhoni at 0 (0). The run rate was 8.22 with the required run rate at 12 runs per over

Captain cool MS Dhoni came to CSK’s rescue in the 10th over. All eyes were on him and he started with a bang, smashed a six to deep mid-wicket, Pawan Negi wasn’t happy.  The next few balls were fine for RCB as the batsmen managed a few singles. Chahal continued from one end in the 11th over, Dhoni got consecutive twos. Chahal bowled a no-ball but Rayudu couldn’t achieve much from the free hit.

Corey Anderson came in to bowl the 12th over for RCB, the batsmen could only manage singles of the first three balls, it was a silent over so far with no signs from the batsmen for a big shot. RCB went for a review on the 4th ball as Anderson made a strong appeal for LBW. The review did no good for RCB and Dhoni smashed a big six on the next ball towards long-on. CSK also crossed the 100-run mark.

CSK were 101/4 after 12 overs with Rayudu at 46 (36) and Dhoni at 21 (12). The run rate was 8.42 with the required run rate at 13.12 runs per over.

Chahal was asked to bowl his last over and it was a calm one as CSK made only 6 runs in the 13th over. Dhoni retained the strike with a single off the last ball. The next over began with a blast from Dhoni straight down the ground. The next one too follows the similar path and went straight into the crowd. Two consecutive sixes for Dhoni and he changed the strike with a single off the fourth ball only to let Rayudu hit a six between mid-wicket and long-on and complete his half-century. CSK were 126/4 after 14 overs. Mohammed Siraj came for the 15th over and Rayudu hit another six on the third ball of the over and changed the strike on the next ball, the over was silent after that.

CSK batsmen managed to give a boost to the run chase but the required rate was still 14.2..

CSK were 135/4 after 15 overs with Rayudu at 61 (44) and Dhoni at 38 (22) on the crease.

 Corey Anderson started the 16th over and Dhoni smashed the frist ball straight down the ground but the Kohli came on time and saved runs for his team. Umesh Yadav made a blunder on the third ball as Rayudu smashed a ball towards extra-cover but Yadav dropped the catch. After 2 balls, Rayudu again smashed a six at deep extra cover. It did not end there as Rayudu hit another six to deep mid-wicket. CSK were 151/4, still in need of 55 runs with 4 overs left. The partnership was doing well for the CSK and RCB was desperately in need of a wicket. Mohammed Siraj came to bowl the 17th over and conceded 7 runs in the first 5 balls but Rayudu managed to steal a boundary on the ball. The required rate was constantly increasing despite the efforts by Rayudu and Dhoni.

Anderson came for the 18th over and bowled a wide, giving an extra, Dhoni hit a clean six in the next ball straight down the ground and picks a single. Rayudu hit a four towards square of the wicket on the next ball. Drama on the field as Rayudu lost his wicket during his attempt to pick a single, Umesh Yadav made no mistake and hit the target after a mis fileld.

Bravo came at the crucial moment. CSK were 176/5 after 18 overs with Dhoni at 55 (30) and Bravo on the crease. 30 runs were needed in 12 balls

With 29 runs needed in 10 balls, Dhoni and Bravo had a lot to do with the bat. First 4 balls of the 19th over were not in CSK’s favour as they scored only 3 runs off it. Dhoni smashed a six on the fourth ball and a little respite came on CSK’s camp. CSK needed 21 runs from 7 balls when Siraj bowled three consecutive wide balls bringing the target to 18 runs for CSK. Dhoni hit a double on the last ball. Csk now needed 16 runs in the last over with Bravo on strike.

Anderson came to bowl the last over and the first ball goes for four, thanks to a healthy edge from Bravo’s bat. Bravo hit a big six to extra cover and CSK needed 6 runs in 4 balls now. The third ball went for a single and Dhoni came on the strike and the rest was just history. He went for a six on the 4th ball and CSK managed another victory. Dhoni scored 70 (34) and Bravo 14(7).

Royal Challengers Banglore innings update: Over by over

Over 1: Quinton de Kock and captain Virat Kohli will open the batting for Royal Challengers Banglore. Deepak Chahar will start the attack for Chennai Super Kings. De Kock to face. Well struck for four. Swing visible, single to De Kock. Kohli flicks and it goes flying for four. Dot ball, wanted one, it was never there. Dot again, end of over. RCB: 5-0

Over 2: Shardul Thakur is into the attack. De Kock takes a single. Kohli lofts it over the covers for four. Elegant drive for a double. RCB: 13-0

Over 3: Chahar to continue. Single to Kohli. De Kock hit sit high in the air,  Dhoni saves a boundary. De Kock smashes it for six, what a shot. Single. What a glorious flick off the pads, equally brilliant fielding. Kohli has run three, but it is being checked. Four give. Single to Kohli. RCB: 28-3

Over 4: Harbhajan Singh is the new bowler. De Kock wacks him for a six. 

Over 5: Shardul Thakur to continue. Kohli hits in the air, mid-on takes it. Kohli is gone for 18. ABD is on the crease. Swing and a miss for ABD. Dot to finish. Wicket-maiden for Thakur. RCB: 35-1 

Over 6: Bhajji continues. ABD steps out on wacks it for a six. ABD gives himself room and hit a flat six over cover. Once again, gives room, goes for four over point. Defended. RCB: 52-1 

Over 7: Ravindra Jadeja is in the attack. Single to de Kock. ABD sweeps and goes for a six. Elegant shot one. Very good double. RCB: 63-1

Over 8: Shane Watson is into the attack. Risky double. De Kock cuts and finds the gap, what a boundary. Swing and a miss. Brilliant looking shot by De Kock, between point and covers, just for one. Pushed for one. One to end the over. RCB: 72-1

Over 9: Imran Tahir is in the attack, De Kock tries to reverse sweep him, misses. Single to De Kock. ABD pushes for a single. Dot ball. Swing and just one. ABD pulls, double. RCB 77-1

Over 10: Dwayne Bravo is in the attack. Yorker to start off with. Downt the ground, smashed for six. Yorker length again. Chipped towards deep point for two. Cheeky single, almost runout. ABD tries the scoop, doesn't get the placement right, ball falls in no man's land, just one. RCB: 87-1

Over 11: Tahir continues, ABD reverse sweeps, rather just touch for four. Misses. What a sweep, gone for a huge six. Another six, huge. Tahir being hit all over. Single to ABD. Very quick double. RCB: 106-1

Over 12: Watson continues, wide. One run to ABD. Weirds sweep by de Kock for double. De Kock pull for one. Mis-hit by ABD, falls in no man's land. Sigh of relief at Chinnaswamy. One run. Good length. Short of a length, De Kock pulls for a huge six. Brings up his 50. RCB: 118-1

Over 13: Shardul Thakur is back, and ABD greets him with a huge six. 50 for ABD. Down the ground for a six. What a display of batting this is. Third one, over the cover region for six. Single to ABD. De Kock cuts for one. Upper cut misses. 

Over 14: Bravo continues, De Kock pulls but plays it back to Bravo, he is out. Anderson is the new man in. Misses the pull shot. RCB: 138-2

Over 15: Tahir continues. Single to ABD. Corey pulls, just one. ABD pulls and he is gone. He falls for 68 from 30. RCB 142-3. Mandeep Singh is the new man in. Tahir to Corey, edges to slip, he is gone. Tahir is ecstatic. RCB: 142-4

Over 16: Colin de Grandhomme is the new man in. Jadeja continues lucky four off the edge. Mandeep sweeps and goes for six. Now he reverses sweeps for four. Dot to end the over. RCB: 157-4 

Over 17: Tahir continues, Mandeep goes for single. Colin takes single as well. Quick single as well. Driven for one. Another single. Double to end the over. RCB: 164-4

Over 18: Bravo continues, double. Swings and misses. Another swing and miss. Brilliant running. Four. RCB: 173-4

Over 19: Thakur continues, Mandeep hits him for a six over point. Again, over the point for one. One run. Wide ball. Mandeep wacks him for a six, over his head. Wide. That was too high in the air, Mandeep is gone. RCB 191-5

Over 20: Bravo to finish it off. Run out. de Grandhomme gone. Pathetic running. Negi is out. Wide. Umesh Yadav hits too high in the air, gone. SIX, finally. Washington Sundar does it. Down the ground for two. Four, what a shot. RCB: 205-8

Royal Challengers Banglore innings analysis at the end of innings

Chennai Super Kings led by MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first, Virat Kohli and Quinton de Kock opened the batting for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Deepak Chahar came to bowl the first over of the innings and gave 5 runs as RCB batsmen were cautious. Shardul Thakur came to bowl the 2nd over of the innings and Kohli hit the third ball for four over the mid-off fielder. RCB batsmen collected 8 runs in the Thakur’s first over. Chahar continued from the other end and got a top edge of the 2nd ball. Dhoni ran for the catch but failed to reach and fielded brilliantly to save 2 runs. De Kock hit the third ball for six over mid-on fielder. Chahar gave away 15 runs in the third over of the innings.

Harbhajan came to ball the 4th over of the innings and de Kock hit the 5th ball of the innings for 6 over mid-on. Harbhajan gave away 7 runs in his first over. Shardul Thakur came to bowl the 5th over of the over and got the wicket of big fish Virat Kohli of the 2nd ball as Jadeja dives and takes it at mid-on. Virat Kohli scored 18 runs off 15 balls with the help of 3 classic boundaries. AB de Villiers came to the crease after the dismissal of Virat. Thakur bowled a brilliant wicket maiden over as he didn’t allow de Villiers to score a single run. Harbhajan continued from the other end and de Villiers belted Harbhajan all across the ground as he hit 2 sixes and a four to collect 17 runs in the 6th over of the innings. RCB were scoring at a run rate of 8.66
 

After the end of the powerplay, Royal Challengers Bangalore scored 52 runs for the loss of 1 wicket. AB de Villiers (16 runs off 9 balls) and Quinton de Kock (18 runs off 12 balls) were at the crease.

MS Dhoni asked Ravindra Jadeja to bowl the 7th over of the innings and de Villiers hit the 3rd ball of the over for 6 behind square as RCB collected 11 runs from Jadeja’s first over. Shane Watson came to bowl the 8th over of the innings and gave away 9 runs as RCB batsmen looked to score big runs. Imran Tahir came to bowl the 9th over and restricted the flow of runs and gave only 5 runs. DJ Bravo came to bowl the 10th over of the innings and got hit for a six of the second ball as Quinton de Kock looked aggressive. Bravo gave away 10 runs in his first over.

After the end of the 10 overs, RCB scored 87 runs for the loss of 1 wicket and they were scoring at the run rate of 8.7 runs per over. AB de Villiers (41 runs off 30 balls) and Quinton de Kock (28 runs off 15 balls) were at the crease

mran Tahir came to bowl the 11th over and de Villiers greeted him with a boundary in the third man region followed by 2 consecutive sixes of 3rd and 4th ball of the innings. Ab de Villiers hit the longest six of IPL 2018 measuring 111 metres. RCB collected 19 runs as they were scoring at a run-rate of 9.63. Shane Watson started the 12th over with a wide and didn’t allow de Kock and de Villiers to score before de Koch hit the last ball of the over for 6 to complete his first half-century of IPL 2018. He completed his 50 in 35 balls with the help of 4 gigantic sixes. Shardul Thakur came to bowl the 13th over and de Villiers hit three consecutive sixes as he looked unstoppable. Shardul Thakur gave away 20 runs in his 3rd over as MS Dhoni looked clueless. MS Dhoni asked his go man DJ Bravo to bowl the 14th over and he delivered as he got the wicket of de Kock of the first ball. Quinton de Kock scored 53 runs off 37 balls with a strike rate of 143.24. Corey Anderson came to the crease after the dismissal of de Kock. Bravo used his T-20 experience and bowled the 2nd wicket maiden over of the innings as he didn’t allow Anderson to score any run in his 2nd over. Imran Tahir came to bowl the 15th over and continued to put the lid on runs and while trying to score some big runs de Villiers got perished as Sam billings took a brilliant catch. AB de Villiers scored 68 runs off 30 balls with a strike rate of 226.66. He hit 8 sixes and 2 fours. Tahir took the wicket of Corey Anderson of the last ball. Anderson scored 2 runs off 8 balls. 

After the end of the 15th over RCB were 142 for the loss of 4 wickets with Mandeep Singh and Colin de Grandhomme on the crease.

Ravindra Jadeja came to bowl the 16th over of the innings and 14 runs in first 4 balls as Mandeep Singh hit the 3rd ball of the over for 6. Imran Tahir came to bowl the 17th over of the innings and kept the run flow in check as he gave away only 7 runs as both RCB batsmen were not able to score big shots. DJ Bravo came to bowl 18th over and RCB batsmen looked helpless to score big shots. DJ Bravo gave away 9 runs in his 3rd over. Shardul Thakur came to bowl the 19th over and Mandeep Singh hit the first ball for six in the point region. Shardul Thakur gave away 18 runs in his 4th over and took the wicket of Mandeep Singh. DJ Bravo came to bowl the last over of the innings and took 2 wickets in first 2 balls before Sundar hit the 4th ball for six over. After the end of the 20 overs, RCB managed to past 200 runs after initial bashing by AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock.

Royal Challengers Bangalore Playing XI: Quinton de Kock(w), Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Corey Anderson, Colin de Grandhomme, Washington Sundar, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal. Change: Pawan Negi replaces Manan Vohra, Colin de Grandhomme replaces Chris Woakes.

Chennai Super Kings Playing XI: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Billings, MS Dhoni(w/c), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir. Change: Karn Sharma and Faf du Plessis in for Harbhajan and Imran Tahir.

With CSK absent from the two previous seasons of IPL, fans on either side were robbed of IPL's most celebrated rivalry. Though Mahendra Singh Dhoni's CSK lead Virat Kohli's RCB 13-7 in overall head-to-head records, the two teams have won three games each of the seven played at the high-scoring M Chinnaswamy Stadium so far. One of the games producied no result. As for IPL 2018, Dhoni's men have seemed much better than RCB, winning four of the five games they have played so far. The Virat Kohli-captained RCB, which have won two of their five matches, would be eager to win today and maintain the momentum after their win against Delhi Daredevils at home in the 19^th match of IPL 2018.
 
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be high on confidence after AB de Villiers hammered Delhi Daredevils bowlers all across M Chinnaswamy stadium in their last match. He enthralled his fans with a whirlwind unbeaten 39-ball 90 to power his team to a convincing win. AB de Villiers' trademark innings single-handedly helped the team chased down the 175-run target with two overs to spare. This also helped bring RCB's campaign back on track. Kohli's quickfire 57 and unbeaten 92 against Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians, respectively, also boosted RCB's confidence. The pair of Kohli and de Villiers has scored 2,361 runs in IPL games so far. This is next only to Chris Gayle-Kohli combine, which has together amassed 2,787 runs. The Shikhar Dhawan-David Warner mix is placed third, with 2357 runs. Quinton de Kock, who has scored 112 runs so far, would like to get a big knock under his belt, as also would Manan Vohra, who scored just one in last match.
 
On the other hand, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings, which have this year staged a comeback to the Indian Premier League fold after a two-year suspension, have yet again shown why they are considered the IPL's most successful team. The yellow brigade has won four of its five games and most of its batsmen have fired on more than one occasion, guiding CSK home. With the likes of in-form Ambati Rayudu, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo and the skipper himself, CSK has the ability to put a massive total on board or chase any challenging target. CSK have found a combination that works and their players have delivered at crucial times, clinching match-defining moments. They have taken the game deep and have prevailed in three last-over finishes.
 
Here are a few things to know before the Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (CSK vs RCB) match to be played at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the two teams' players who could prove handy, and who has said what before the clash:
 
 

Here's how CSK and RCB compared head to head in IPL matches played so far

Overall

Matches played: 21
Royal Challengers Bangalore won: 7
Chennai Super Kings won: 13
No Result:1
 
At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium 

Matches played: 8
Royal Challengers Bangalore won: 3
Chennai Super Kings won: 4
No Result: 1
 
Some Trivia ahead of today’s match between Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore
 

• If Virat Kohli leads the Royal Challengers Bangalore onto the field on Wednesday, it will his 100th match as captain in T20 cricket. He will be the third Indian cricketer to captain in 100 or more matches after MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir.

• MS Dhoni’s record in IPL matches in Bengaluru: Innings – 8, Runs – 309, Average – 61.80, Strike Rate – 177.58.

• Virat Kohli, who has scored more runs against CSK than against any other opposition, needs to score 18 more runs to complete 2000 IPL runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

• The Chennai Super Kings have been unbeaten in matches played on 25 April; over the years, they have played 6 IPL matches & won 5; one match against RCB in 2012 was washed out.