Press Trust of India
Bangalore, April 22: Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) dismal run in IPL-VIII continued as they succumbed to their third consecutive defeat, this time at the hands of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 27 runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here Wednesday.
Chasing a stiff target of 182 runs, RCB never looked to be in the hunt as they kept on losing wickets regularly. Ashish Nehra (4/10) was superb with the new ball as he picked up a couple of wickets at the start and then came back for a second spell to add two more to his tally. Only skipper Virat Kohli (51, 42b, 4×4, 2×6) showed some grit but in the end it was too little too less for the Vijay Mallya-owned side.
Earlier put into bat Dwayne Smith (39, 29b, 3×4, 3×6) was instrumental in providing the momentum upfront. Suresh Raina (62, 32b, 4×4, 6×6) then took over from him and smashed the bowlers all over the park to help CSK post a challenging score of 181 for the loss of eight wickets. The left-hander came in at the fall of Brendon McCullum (4) in the second over and after getting his eye in, he set the Chinnaswamy Stadium on fire with some lusty blows.
Raina was particularly severe on leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (3/40), whom he struck for three sixes off successive deliveries in the 13th over. He stitched together a quick fire 54-run partnership for the third wicket with his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (13). However, eventually Chahal got Raina out as he tried one shot too many.
CSK then lost a bit of momentum in between with quick dismissals of Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja (8) but Faf du Plessis (33 n o, 18b, 4×4, 1×6) remained unbeaten till the end and used the long handle to take the score past the 181-run mark.
Iqbal Abdulla (2/36) struck at crucial junctures for RCB and Mitchell Starc (1/24), returning from an injury was at his miserly best for the home team.
Brief Scores
CSK 181 for eight (Suresh Raina 62, Dwayne Smith 39; Yuzvendra Chahal 3/40, Iqbal Abdulla 2/36) beat RCB 154 for eight (Virat Kohli 51; Ashish 4/10) by 27 runs.
