When the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) players took the field against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on May 18 (Saturday) they could feel the pressure of the expectations. RCB needed to beat CSK and that too by a considerable margin and after their batters posted 218 on the board, the onus fell on the shoulders of their bowlers.
The RCB bowlers made early inroads into Chennai's batting order and applied relentless pressure on them to help the hosts remain ahead in the game but CSK clawed their way back and it came down to the final over of the fixture.
As RCB needed to defend 16 runs off the final over, skipper Faf du Plessis tossed the ball into the hands of Yash Dayal. Faf's decision surprised many as he could have gone in with a more experienced bowler in the form of Lockie Ferguson but instead took a punt on Dayal.
However, if we consider Dayal's performance, Faf's decision doesn't come across as a huge surprise. Dayal is the leading wicket-taker for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The 26-year-old has bagged 15 wickets in 13 games.
His economy rate of 8.94 might seem expensive to many but considering the way the bat has dominated the ball in this edition, the RCB fans can surely cut him some slack.
With the hopes of all the RCB fans resting on his shoulders, Dayal ran into MS Dhoni and got smashed for a 110m six over fine leg. Getting hit for a six is one thing but getting clobbered for a 110m maximum can put even the most resolute bowlers under pressure.
It can be argued that Dayal might have had flashes of the onslaught that he suffered at the hands of Rinku Singh in the 13th match of IPL 2023 but whether he had or not, the left-arm pacer held his nerves to script one of the most dramatic turnarounds in IPL history.
He delivered a back-of-a-hand slower one to Dhoni and his gutsy move paid dividends. Dhoni miscued his shot and holed out at deep backward square leg. Dayal never looked back from there and bowled a dot, single and two consecutive dots to seal the game in the favour of the hosts and propel them into the playoffs.
Faf was so impressed by Dayal's bowling display that he dedicated his Player of the Match award to him during the presentation.
