RCB Win against CSK took challenge comfortably 

RCB Win against CSK: Despite Moeen Ali’s all-around effort, Royal Challengers Bangalore handed Chennai Super Kings their eighth loss of the season. Thanks to a collective batting effort and Harshal Patel’s triple strike, CSK was limited to 160 in a 174-run chase at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Wednesday. 

• Du Plessis, Kohli’s amazing start 

After RCB was called in to bat, the veteran opening pair of Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli put on a 62-run stand for the first wicket in only 44 balls.  

Kohli struggled to keep the tempo up even after getting off to a good start with a flip for a boundary through a deep backward leg.  

The RCB captain, who paced into his innings with ease, scored a lot of runs. He took Mukesh Choudhry to the cleaners in the fifth over, smashing two boundaries and a six to get RCB moving in their innings. 

When du Plessis’ attempt to track down Moeen Ali backfired, the collaboration came to an end.  

He holed out to Ravindra Jadeja at deep mid-wicket after mistiming a cross-batted drive. When Moeen cleaned up Kohli, the ball went through the space between his bat and pad, severely damaging RCB.  

Maxwell became a victim of miscommunication in running with Kohli between the two dismissals, finally reducing RCB to 79 for 3 by the end of the 10th over. 

• Lomror, Patidar support in the middle 

Two domestic cricketers were tasked with keeping the tempo in the middle overs, despite a very star-studded batting line-up. In only 31 balls, Mahipal Lomror and Rajat Patidar skillfully stabilized the innings with a 44-run partnership for the fourth wicket.  

They began to accelerate after a steady start, and in the 15th over, they took their opportunities against Mahesh Theekshana, selecting him for 13 runs in the over.  

They were unable to maintain the offensive, however. Patidar’s tenure was ended by a forward diving catch by Choudhary at deep square leg.  

Despite this, Lomror kept the onslaught rolling, hammering Dwaine Pretorius for 18 in the 18th over. 

• Exploits In the end 

Theekshana, who had been dismissed for 25 in his first three overs, ended RCB’s momentum in the last over of the innings.  

Lomror and Wanindu Hasaranaga were bowled in rapid succession by the spinner before Shahbaz Ahmed finished the over. 

The first two were captured slogging to Ruturaj Gaikwad from a long distance, while Shahbaz was cleaned up for one. Despite everything, he only gave up two runs in a fantastic over. 

However, the tables were flipped the next day. Dinesh Karthik, who was on the opposite end of the field observing the batters, unleashed his death over hitting on Pretorius, hitting two sixes, and picking him for 16 runs to help his team reach 173 runs. 

• Destructive Moeen’s batting 

Moeen Ali, who had returned to the team, had already made an impression with the ball earlier in the day. After that, the all-rounder grabbed command of CSK’s run chase. After a half-century opening stand, the momentum had flipped in RCB’s favour as they were reduced to 75 for 3 in the 0th over. 

Moeen and Conway, on the other hand, made sure they maintained picking limits again and over.  

Conway was slog sweeping to the deep mid wicket fielder by Hasaranga shortly after his half-century. 

That dismissal was the start of a new downward spiral. Ravindra Jadeja, who survived a tight run out opportunity early in the innings, was unable to capitalise on the opportunity. Soon after, Harshal Patel’s slower delivery threw him off as he skied a ball to Virat Kohli.  

Harshal also stopped Moeen’s threat in his next over. Moeen miscued a delivery wide outside the off Stump to the fielder in the inner ring only a ball after carting the medium pacer for a six. 

• Fizzles out  

Regular wickets collected by RCB in the closing quarter of CSK’s innings halted the pursuit. CSK’s collapse was precipitated by contentious shot-making, even when the pitch improved for batting. 

Due to a lack of batting muscle, the lower order was left chasing too much for their comfort.  

Despite being heavily beaten in the final over, Harshal managed to keep CSK from achieving the target, reducing them to 160 for 8. 

Published By: Simran Mulani

Edit By: Khushi Thakur