It was a phenomenal display of cricket between two ancient rivals in the antiquity of the IPL, the Chennai Super Kings and the Royal Challengers Bangalore as 444 runs were scored in a high-scoring encounter. The two reckoning forces collided with each other at the Chinnaswamy for the Southern Derby and winning the toss RCB opted to field first.
Chennai was in a fine position as they got off to a roaring start despite the early departure of Ruturaj Gaikwad. Devon Conway got into the groove while Ajinkya Rahane continued with his free fire. Once Rahane was back in the hut it was Shivam Dube arrived in the centre and carried forth with the charge as he scored a quickfire fifty.
Here is what Sunil Gavaskar had to say about MS Dhoni
A late surge in the run rate from Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja, helped them settle the scores conveniently as CSK posted 226 on the cards. Barring Mohammed Siraj, all the other bowlers for RCB have smashed around mercilessly.
By the time RCB took to the grounds they had a couple of early blows to deal with as they lost the likes of Mahipal Lomror and Virat Kohli. However, it was a magical turnaround, thanks to Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis as the duo completely derailed the Chennai bowlers, showcasing a fine case of might and power.
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This is what happened to pull off a closing end to the affair between CSK and RCB
It needed a special display from Chennai Super Kings to showcase that they were the better side of the two, as they eked out an 8 run-win despite all the huff and puff from the Challengers. Once again, they needed a leader who better than Dhoni to lead the path.
Sunil Gavaskar explained what was the strategy that was deployed by MS Dhoni, stating, “Players don’t feel much pressure when MS Dhoni is leading the side. He’s utterly cool and that helps. He stays in the moment and never gets carried away. Yes, he gives them some stares once they drop catches or miss field but he never puts them under pressure. That is the reason why CSK manage to brave crunch situations more often than not.”
