Bengaluru’s Royal Challengers have accomplished it. They advanced to the IPL 2024 playoffs after defeating the Chennai Super Kings by a margin of 27 runs. After losing all eight of their opening eight games, RCB was in complete disarray. The Faf du Plessis-led team, nevertheless, saw a quick turnaround as they won six straight games to qualify for the playoffs.
The odds were against RCB again against Chennai. Although there was a significant risk of rain before the game, which did have an impact at one point, they were sufficiently committed to winning. As they forged an important 78-run partnership, Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis got off to a fantastic start. Faf and Rajat Patidar took care of business after Virat returned to the pavilion, and that was a major factor in their impressive score.
Patidar scored 41 runs off 23 deliveries, compared to Faf’s 54 runs off 39 balls. RCB scored 218 runs in the last over because of a brilliant cameo from Cameron Green, who scored 38 runs off of 17 balls.
CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad left for a golden duck when it came to the chase. After hitting 61 runs off of 37 deliveries and appearing quite proficient, his opening partner, Rachin Ravindra, was sent back to the pavilion due to a misunderstanding with Shivam Dube. Although Ravindra Jadeja scored 42 runs off of 22 balls, he was unable to complete the score. The ball was in CSK’s court, but they couldn’t quite get the 11 runs in five balls needed to qualify for the playoffs.
1. The comradery between Virat and Faf altered RCB’s destiny.
The opening pair’s poor starts was a major contributing factor to RCB’s defeat in the first round of the event. Early on, Faf didn’t live up to his potential, but things eventually changed. When the competition was halfway over, RCB made the decision to switch up their tactics and play aggressive cricket, which worked for them. There was no stopping RCB once they took to playing brave cricket. They would hope to eventually win the title in the playoffs by playing the same style of cricket.
2. Yash Dayal finds redemption
Prior to the 2023 season, Gujarat Titans let go of Yash Dayal following the onslaught of Rinku Singh. Still, RCB continued to have faith in him, and he did not disappoint. Faf handed the ball to Dayal, with 17 runs needed for CSK to qualify in the last over. Dayal was hammered for a six in the opening ball of the over, but he bounced back well and helped give up just one run in the final five balls. One would hope to make a return like that.
3. The last dance by MS Dhoni?
We won’t find out anytime soon, because nobody does. Against RCB, he scored 25 runs off of 13 deliveries and attempted a huge 110-meter six off Dayal, but, similar to the 2019 World Cup final, he was unsuccessful. Whether this was the last time we saw the legend on the pitch will only become clear with time.
Also read: IPL 2024: Chennai Super Kings 2nd innings highlights against RCB in Match 68
The losing skipper, Ruturaj Gaikwad, said:
I think it was a good wicket to be honest, it was spinning and gripping a little bit, but I think 200 on this ground was gettable. We kept losing wickets at regular intervals, it was a matter of one or two hits, sometimes that can happen in a T20 game. Pretty happy with what the target was, to sum up the season, I am pretty happy to have seven wins out of 14 games. Just couldn’t get over the line in the last two balls.
With the kind of injuries we had, missing out on two frontline bowlers, not having Conway at the top of the order as well, I think missing out on three key players made a huge difference.
Credit to the CSK staff and everyone who put up a great show for us throughout the season. There were many challenges for us right throughout the first game. Injury to Fizz (Mustafiur), then injruy to Pathirana as well, he came back and then again Pathirana missed out. When you have injuries around, you have to get that balance in the team and pick it (the team) for every game. I think this season sums up well where we had to tinker around with our playing XI, considering the injuries and all the illness (of the players) as well.
Happy with the seven wins, couldn’t get over the line though. Happy with it. We got 10 from the last 2 balls in our last knockout game last year so this was a similar situation, things didn’t go our way (this season) though. For me, personal milestones don’t really matter a lot, after all the ultimate goal is to win. If you are not getting there it’s a disappointment. Doesn’t matter if you score 100 runs or 500-600 runs in a season. I am disappointed.
Winning skipper and POTM Faf du Plessis said:
What a night! Such a great atmosphere. Just a pleasure to finish the season in front of the home seasons. There was a lot of rain falling on the pitch, and you don’t want that moisture. It felt like a day-five Test match in Ranchi! The contributions from many batters at good strikes, I’m really proud. We were defending 175 [and neither 201 nor 218]! We tried to get the ball changed tonight.
I dedicate the Man of the Match [award] to Yash Dayal! I said to him pace off on this wicket is the best option. It’s crazy; even when we weren’t winning, we had the fans here. It was set up perfectly – CSK vs RCB! Incredible. Thank you everyone for their support. It’s really important that you enjoy this. Your first goal in the IPL is to try and get in the knockouts.
India
