In yet another nail-biting finish, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) got the better of their opponents Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at a crowded, vociferous Chinnaswamy Staidum last night, with ‘captain cool’ M.S. Dhoni, arguably the best ‘finisher’ in the world ODIs and T20 matches, hitting a trademark huge six between mid-wicket and long-on off the fourth ball of the 20 th over of Corey Anderson when five were needed off three balls.

Not all was green when Dhoni walked in to join opener Ambati Rayudu, who has been continuing his rich vein of form throughout his tournament, with CSK reeling at 74/4 in 9 overs, needing 132 runs in 11 overs at exactly12 runs per over: the equation was simple, albeit mathematically; CSK needed at least two runs per every remaining ball.

The next nine overs witnessed mayhem with runs flowing from all around the park as Dhoni and Rayudu launched a calculated assault, mixing aggression with authentic cricketing shots to notch up 101 runs off 8.9 overs. When Rayudu ran himself out (as he did in the last match) in the 18 th over, CSK needed 31 runs off the last 13 deliveries. Rayudu, who was declared the ‘special player of the match’, was key to the win by hitting 82 runs off just 53 balls with 3 fours and 8 towering sixes.

Bravo later joined Dhoni and hit a much-needed four and a six off the first two balls of the last over, leaving the ‘finishing touches’ to the ‘master’ Dhoni who once again proved that despite his 37 years of age, he is still the ‘best finisher’ the game has ever seen. Dhoni remained not out on 70 off just 34 balls with a four and 7 huge sixes.

Virat Kohli, the ‘King’ of Indian cricket and who is hailed as the best all-format batsman of his era by cricket pundits and observers, had positioned himself at the mid-wicket fence but could only (haplessly) watch the ball sailing through his head for a six, sealing the match in CSK’s favour as the Dhoni-led team once again pulled off a stiff run-chase of more than 200 runs with relative ease. Kohli congratulated Dhoni and later paid rich tributes to the big-hitting talents of Dhoni and Rayudu at the post-match interview with Murali Karthik.

The match didn’t exactly proceed as per plan for the CSK. During the half-way stage, it was staring at a mammoth total of 205 after AB de Villiers plundered CSK’s spinners and pacers in his typically aggressive manner of batting by hitting 68 off 30 balls with 2 fours and 8 sixes.

After Virat fell cheaply for 18, de Villiers and his South African team-mate and wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock added a rollicking 103 off just 8.5 overs. Later, Mandeep and Washington Sundar played cameos to take RCB’s score over 200 to give them a very good chance of defending.

Dhoni used 7 bowlers to stem the run riot bud could literally do nothing against a rampaging de Villiers. Bravo once again showed his class with the ball by picking up crucial wickets and reducing the run-rate. In their chase, CSK lost Watson and Raina cheaply followed in quick succession by Sam Billings and Ravindra Jadeja, both of whom were promoted in the batting order ahead of Dhoni.

What followed later, as they say, was nothing but history as it was also the first occasion in the 10-year long IPL history that RCB lost a match in their own backyard after hitting more than 200 runs! The 32 sixes hit in the match by both the teams is also a new IPL record for most number of sixes in a match.

Brief scores: RCB 205/8 in 20 overs (de Kock 53, de Villiers 68, Mandeep Singh 32, Bravo 2-33)
lost to CSK 207/5 in 19.4 overs (Dhoni 70*, Rayudu 83, Bravo 14*) by five wickets.

Images Courtesy - IPLT20, BCCI