Royal Challengers Bangalore scrape to crucial victory against Chennai Super Kings

RANCHI: Royal Challengers Bangalore stuttered and spluttered before clinching a must-win match against Chennai Super Kings by five wickets with one ball to spare at the JSCA International Cricket Stadium, mastering conditions tailor-made for the home team.
It was a team effort where everyone contributed in his own way. On a pitch turning square from the second over of their innings, Chris Gayle (46 off 50 balls) fought hard with poor form and Ravichandran Ashwin to keep the chase of 139 on track and give AB De Villiers (28 off 14 balls) the launch pad to do the job the way he likes.
Captain Virat Kohli (27) stitched together a crucial partnership with Gayle to keep the required rate under control.
But all of them fell before the job was finished but Yuvraj Singh (13 off 9 balls) ensured the game was not lost.
It was poetic justice that the winning stroke did not come from the bat of any of these superstars but from Abu Nechim Ahmed, without whose accurate bowling this victory would not have been possible.
So far in the Indian Premier League this season, it was RCB's bowling which was letting them down match after match but that was not the case on Sunday. Virat Kohli's bowlers were on the money right from the word go.
Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith were not allowed to give CSK the explosive start they are adept in. Muttiah Muralitharan and Mitchell Starc, opening the attack for RCB, kept them down to just eight in the first two overs.
Varun Aaron did get hit for a four and a top-edged six by Smith and McCullum respectively but the next over from Abu Nechim made them impatient.
As a result, McCullum decided to go for the kill in the fourth over against Aaron. He did succeed in lifting him to the long-on boundary off the first ball but went for it again the very next ball which hurried on to him and the ball went high towards deep mid-wicket where Starc took a tumbling catch going to his left. One ball later, it was over for Smith, too, as he tried to pull
Aaron from outside off. The Jharkhand pacer is way too quick for that and the ball went straight up for AB De Villiers to take a simple catch at cover.
Even though Yuzvendra Chahal and Muttiah Muralitharan could not make much of an impact on this turner - they took only one wicket between them and gave away 56 runs - they did not allow Suresh Raina and David Hussey (playing his first match for CSK) get away with it. Raina was the only batsman who looked like having the measure of the bowling.
STORY OF THE MATCH
TURNING POINT
When the last over began, Royal Challengers Bangalore needed 10 runs to beat the Chennai Super Kings. In an inexplicable move, skipper CSK skipper MS Dhoni chose to throw the ball to part-time off-spinner David Hussey. Perhaps, he was swayed by the turn on offer from the wicket. The decision bombed as RCB galloped to victory.
200
AB De Villiers' strike-rate: The South African is turning out to be RCB's man of IPL7. De Villiers blasted 28 off merely 13 balls, stroking three fours and a six to once again pull his team out of a tight situation.
13.41
Hussey's eco-rate: While R Ashwin and Samuel Badree sizzled on a pitch aiding spin, Hussey, even as he did well with the bat, ended up conceding 38 runs in 2.5 overs. He took a couple of wickets, but RCB would have been rather happy to see him bowl!
TALKING POINT
The pitch for this game at the JSCA International Stadium in Ranchi seemed more like a fifth day sub-continent wicket. With this venue hosting more matches than usual this time, the wicket is perhaps beginning to wear out. This wasn't the best T20 pitch you would see.