20-05-2024, MON
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) captain Faf Du Plessis expressed satisfaction with his team’s fightback to claim the final playoff berth in the present Indian Premier League (IPL) with a win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Saturday, calling the franchise’s reversal in the competition “fun.” RCB staged a spectacular comeback from a disastrous first half of the IPL 2024, in which they won only one of eight games, to winning six consecutive games to reach the playoffs. RCB finished fourth in the league stage with seven wins, seven defeats, and 14 points, achieving a greater net-run rate than CSK, Delhi Capitals (DC), and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), all of whom had 14 points.
The RCB captain commented on Instagram, “How fun was that… so proud of everyone for pulling off the impossible.” Special night. A special bunch. “Looking forward to the next one.”
The Red and Gold franchise’s next game is an elimination match against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) on May 22 at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. The winner of this match will face the loser of the qualifier in the Qualifier 2 match on May 24 in Chennai. The winner of qualifier two advances to the final on May 26 in Chennai. In the current season, Faf has scored 421 runs at an average of 30.07 and a strike rate of more than 163, including four half-centuries and a best of 64.
Coming into the match, CSK won the toss and chose to bat first. RCB had a superb score of 218/5 on the board, with skipper Faf Du Plessis (54), Virat Kohli (47) putting on a 78-run partnership, laying the groundwork for Rajat Patidar (41), and Cameron Green (38*) to put on a 71-run stand for the third wicket. Dinesh Karthik (14) and Glenn Maxwell (16) contributed to RCB’s 200-plus run total. To qualify for the playoffs and beat CSK’s net run rate, RCB needed to keep them below 201 runs.
CSK lost two wickets early in the run chase of 219 runs, to reach at least 201 runs to secure a top-four berth. Rachin Ravindra (61) and Ajinkya Rahane (33) embarked on a 66-run partnership to get the team into the game. RCB had reduced CSK to 129/6, but a partnership between Ravindra Jadeja (42*) and MS Dhoni (25) threatened to steal the match away from RCB. However, Yash Dayal saved 11 runs in the final over, limiting CSK to 191/7 in 20 overs.
