The Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Faf du Plessis dedicated his Player of the Match award on Saturday (May 18) to his team's emerging death overs specialist Yash Dayal after the latter successfully defended 17 off the last over to deny Chennai Super Kings (CSK) a place in the playoffs.
Dayal was under a tremendous amount of pressure as he found himself against MS Dhoni, arguably the best finisher that the game has seen.
The left-arm speedster erred in length and was tonked for a 110m maximum on the very first delivery of the over. But just when the CSK fans thought that Dhoni was about to take them over the line yet again, Dayal got the better of the former CSK skipper and sent him packing with a back-of-the-hand slower one.
Dayal followed it up with 0,1,0,0 and sealed the game in RCB's favour. The win helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) seal a berth in the playoffs and they are now one of the top contenders to lift the title this season.
Du Plessis lavished praise on Dayal during the post-match presentation and dedicated his Player of the Match honour to Dayal. He also revealed that he had advised Dayal to take the pace off and it ultimately paid dividends.
"What a night! Such a great atmosphere. Just a pleasure to finish the season in front of the home seasons," said du Plessis.
"There was a lot of rain falling on the pitch, and you don't want that moisture. It felt like a day-five Test match in Ranchi! The contributions from many batters at good strikes, I'm really proud. We were defending 175 (and neither 201 nor 218)! We tried to get the ball changed tonight. I dedicate the Man of the Match (award) to Yash Dayal! I said to him pace off on this wicket is the best option."
