Royal Challengers' young Bangalore pacer Yash Dayal kept his nerves in check and performed under pressure at the most crucial moment for his team in the decisive match against Chennai Super Kings. The left-arm paceman restricted two of the most clinical finishers in IPL history, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja, as RCB needed to defend 17 points to survive CSK in the play-off race. Faf du Plessis & Co. was able to pull off one of the biggest comebacks in tournament history, winning six games on the fly and making it to the playoffs.
Dayal had to do a very tough job in the final over, but his captain du Plessis showed faith in him despite Cameron Green's left over. With Dhoni and Jadeja in the field, the left-arm paceman felt under pressure and could not get the line and length right with the first ball. Dhoni made the most of it, hitting the longest 110 meters and scoring 11 runs off four balls. This momentum turned the tide for CSK, but Dayal outplayed Dhoni on the next ball with a slow ball, surprising the CSK fans in the stadium.
Shardul Thakur, a new addition in the middle, was given the first ball by Dayal, but managed to grab a single on the second ball he received. CSK needed 10 runs from the last two balls to qualify for the playoffs, but Dayal decided to play a slow ball outside off and the entire RCB team started celebrating with the ball still in hand. The young paceman once again held his nerve and hit a dot on the last ball to seal a play-off spot.
Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad had already qualified for the playoffs. RCB, who was forced to bat, posted a challenging score of 218 for 5 in the must-win match against CSK. In reply, Chennai (191/7) continued to lose wickets at regular intervals, but Jadeja (42*) and he MS Dhoni (25) gave hope at the end, but Dayal canceled it out. , led RCB to the top four.
On Saturday, the home side needed to win by at least 18 points to clinch the final play-off spot and they achieved that in style with another impressive show at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Both teams finished with 14 points, but RCB snuck into the top four based on an improved net run rate.
Quick score:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 218 for 5 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 54, Virat Kohli 47, Shardul Thakur 2/61).
Chennai Super Kings: 191 for 7 in 20 overs (Rachin Ravindra 61, Ravindra Jadeja 42 not out, Yash Dayal 2/42).
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