On May 19, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) faced off in a must-win game in the IPL 2024 in Bengaluru. RCB ended up winning a thrilling contest to eliminate CSK from the race of playoffs and qualify themselves.
Ruturaj Gaikwad, CSK captain, won the toss and opted to field first. Virat Kohli (47 in 29) and Faf du Plessis (54 in 39) contributed 78 runs in the first ten overs. After a rain break, RCB struggled to regain momentum, but Rajat Patidar (41 in 23) and Cameron Green (38* in 17) caused significant damage to CSK's bowling in the middle overs.
Then cameos from Glenn Maxwell (16 in 5) and Dinesh Karthik (14 in 6) drove RCB to 218/5 after 20 overs. Shardul Thakur was CSK's top bowler with two wickets; however, he conceded 61 runs in four overs.
CSK started poorly, losing Ruturaj Gaikwad for a golden duck and Daryl Mitchell for four runs. But Rachin Ravindra smashed 61 in 37 balls, along with Ajinkya Rahane (33 in 22) helped CSK get back into contention.
However, RCB responded quickly, dismissing Ravindra and Rahane, as well as Shivam Dube (7) and Mitchell Santner (3). Santner could have been problematic for RCB, but skipper Faf du Plessis' brilliance got him out.
In the end, though Ravindra Jadeja (42* in 22) and MS Dhoni (25 in 13) tried their best to get to the playoff’s qualification target of 200 runs, but Dhoni’s wicket in the last over by Yash Dayal proved to be fatal as CSK finished on 191/7 and lost the game by 27 runs.
Faf du Plessis was named the Player of the Match for his fifty. RCB qualified for the playoffs and will play in the Eliminator on Wednesday, May 22.
The cricket fraternity rejoiced at the victory of RCB, who won six games in a row to qualify for the playoffs of IPL 2024. They praised the team and leadership on social media.
Here are the posts:
