RCB clinch historic thriller at Chinnaswamy moving to the top of points table

It was a historic night at the Chinnaswamy as RCB pulled off a league double over CSK for the first time in IPL antiquity. It was a battle brimming with crazy twists and turns and eventually at the end of some insane cricketing action, a high-octane, ever-oscillating thriller met its due conclusion.

Winning the toss, CSK opted to bowl first. RCB still had Phil Salt on the sidelines but it was time for the birth of a new star. English all-rounder, Jacob Bethell got a start and in his second coming for RCB in the ongoing season, he imparted finality to the sparks that were already in motion in the last game. RCB had one change to the side from their last fixture as Lungi Ngidi came in for Josh Hazlewood.

It was a super start for the hosts as Jacob Bethell and Virat Kohli were already firing on all blasters. Bethell (55) sprayed the shots into all nooks and crannies of the park while Virat Kohli (62) started the assault on fifth gear, striking close to 300 inside the powerplay.

The opening duo added 97 runs from just 59 balls as Starboy Bethell led the charge. It was the introduction of Matheesha Pathirana that provided the opening breakthrough for CSK. RCB lost Virat Kohli in quick succession too allowing CSK to have a sneak into what could have been a dramatic turnaround.

Much to the woes of RCB, their middle-order came tumbling down in front of a soaring Pathirana. Devdutt Padikkal (17), Rajat Patidar (11) and Jitesh Sharma (7) were back to the pavilion in no time at all, reducing RCB to 157/5 with just two overs to go. Tim David was joined by the Caribbean muscleman, Romario Shepherd and what followed thereafter was a rampage of the highest order.

Romario came unhinged against a confused Khaleel Ahmed and the ball kept on flying across the fence in almost every single delivery. He smacked 33 runs in that over, once again igniting hopes of a 200-plus score in Chinnaswamy. Romario’s onslaught knew no bounds in the final over either as he hammered Pathirana for 20 runs after Tim David rotated the strike on the first ball. A total that looked to be way below 200 at the end of 18 overs finished at 213/5 at the end of 20, thanks to Romario Shepherd’s unbeaten half-century, which is also the joint second-fastest fifty in the history of the IPL and the fastest for RCB.

With an above-par total on the board, it went without a saying that CSK would have had to bat out of their skins till the very end if they were to register a win in the game. Youngsters Ayush Mhatre and Shaik Rasheed provided the all-important jumpstart that the Super Kings were looking forward to.

Mhatre played the role of a chief aggressor for CSK, taking the reins of the game in his own hands while Rasheed played the second fiddle. The duo added 51 runs for the opening wicket before Krunal Pandya got the better of Rasheed (14). Lungi Ngidi soon joined the party, opening his account for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru with the prized scalp of Sam Curran (5) who was coming on the back of a fresh half-century against PBKS.

Despite losing the two early wickets, CSK was unfazed and they did well to fight back. Ravindra Jadeja arrived in the center and played the perfect partner to Ayush Mhatre’s belligerence. The two were in menacing nick as they added 114 runs for the third wicket. Till the time, Mhatre and Jadeja reigned supreme, CSK ran a cent-percent chance of walking away with the bragging rights even though the equation kept on getting tighter with the RCB bowlers focusing more on stalling the boundaries to create pressure.

The ploy of reining in the fours and sixes worked wonders as Lungi Ngidi provided a crucial breakthrough in the form of Ayush with Krunal Pandya bagging a safe catch. Things got complicated further as CSK lost Dewald Brevis in the first ball itself with Ngidi dealing a second blow, bagging his third of the evening. The South African’s double whammy created a vortex of pressure for CSK out of nowhere and RCB knew that it was game on.

With 35 needed off 18 and Ravindra Jadeja in full swing, Suyash Sharma bowled a game-changing over, conceding only six runs off it. The equation reduced to 29 off 12 and CSK did manage to find some momentum of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, stealing 14 off it which left CSK with 15 to get off the final six.

Yash Dayal had a massive task of replicating what he pulled off in the final group stage fixture for RCB in 2024. The first ball to Dhoni was a quicker full toss which stayed low and was parked away for a single. Jadeja couldn’t come up with something sumptuous either on the following ball as he could only steal another run. With two scored off the first two, the equation read 13 off the final four and Dayal produced a massive breakthrough in the form of MS Dhoni.

With Dhoni gone, the task simply got a lot more difficult for CSK. However, they found an unexpected lifeline in the form of an above-waist full toss which was jammed into the orbit by Shivam Dube. With a free-hit coming in and six needed off the final three, the game had all chances of being over with two balls to spare.

Dayal rocked in with a quicker one again and Dube could only steal a single. Now with five to win from the final two, CSK had the chance of pulling out a late win but Dayal’s persistence laced with his pinpoint accuracy saw RCB register a thrilling 2-run victory to climb up to the top of the points table while etching history in Namma Chinnaswamy. Romario Shepherd won the Player of the Match award for his excellent performance with the bat, propelling RCB to a fine finish in their innings.