Dubai: Bowlers, led by Chris Morris (3/19), complemented a brilliant knock by captain Virat Kohli (90 n o, 52b, 4×4, 4×6) to help Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB) register a comprehensive 37-run win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their IPL game here, Saturday.
First Kohli led by example to power RCB to a competitive 169/4 after a slowish start. Then their bowlers restricted CSK to 132/8, inflicting the fifth defeat on the MS Dhoni-led side in seven matches making their season more measurable.
Chasing a challenging target of 170, CSK faltered from the very beginning with Washington Sundar (2/16) getting rid of both the openers – Faf du Plessis (8) and Shane Watson (14) – inside the powerplay to reduce CSK to 25/2.
CSK didn’t able to recover from that bowing down to the pressure. Ambati Rayudu struggled to get going during his 40-ball 42-run knock. N Jagadeesan (33), who had replaced Kedar Jadhav, tried to accelerate but failed to keep up. Rayudu and Jagadeesan added 64 runs for the third wicket. Isuru Udana (1/30) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/35) were the other wicket takers for RCB.
Earlier, Kohli, who walked in at the fall of Aaron Finch in the third over, led from the front with a majestic knock that was the finest blend of skill and peak fitness.
The RCB captain was involved in two half century partnerships – with opener Devdutt Padikkal (33) and Shivam Dube (22 n o) for the fifth wicket, an unbeaten 76-run stand, which powered the total.
The last five overs yielded 74 runs as the CSK bowlers appeared to falter after having allowed RCB to score only 95 in the first 15.
Deepak Chahar finished with 1/10 from three overs while Shardul Thakur (2/40) was the best in terms of wickets. Veteran Dwayne Bravo (0/29) again showed his value by being economical at the death.
Brief scores: RCB 169/4 (Virat Kohli 90 n o, Devdutt Padikkal 33; Shardul Thakur 2/40, Deepak Chahar 1/10) beat CSK 132/8 (Ambati Rayudu 42, N Jagadeesan 33; Chris Morris 3/19, Washington Sundar 2/16) by 37 runs.