Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Chennai Super Kings to earn the final playoff berth in the IPL 2024 on Saturday. RCB successfully defended a 218 total by 27 runs at M Chinnaswamy Stadium to knock out the defending champions CSK and secured a fourth position in the points table.
After recording just one win in their first eight matches, RCB made a sensational comeback with six consecutive wins to conclude their league-stage campaign. No team in IPL history made it to a playoff after winning just once in their first seven matches. With seven wins in 14 matches, Bengaluru jumped to fourth place and with the same number of wins, Chennai finished in fifth position in the IPL 2024 points table.
Faf du Plessis scored a brilliant fifty and in-form Virat Kohli contributed quick 47 runs to help Bengaluru post a 218/5 total. Chennai Super Kings kept the game balanced for the majority of the time but the hosts avoided a late scare to earn a deserving win.
RCB needed to win the game by 18 runs and avoid a rain washout to secure the remaining playoff berth. After being forced to bat first, Bengaluru started well with openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis going big from the start. Rain interrupted the play after the third over but the game resumed after a half hour without no deduction in overs.
Kohli missed out his fifty by just three runs but Faf managed to score a brilliant knock of 54 off 39 balls. In-form Rajat Patidar continued his red-hot form by scoring 41 off just 23 balls and then Cameron Green added a crucial 38* off 17 to take Benagluru to a a solid total of 2018.
Chennai lost their leader Ruturaj Gaikwad on the very first ball off their innings and then Yash Dayal dismissed another in-form batter Daryl Mitchell in the third over. But the visiting side made a stunning comeback with the veteran Ajinkya Rahane and Kiwi youngster Rachin Ravindra adding quick 66 runs for the third wicket.
Lockie Ferguson ended Rahane's inning in the tenth over and then Chennai witnessed a collapse in the middle overs. Rachin Ravindra top-scored with 61 off just 37 balls but the likes of Shivam Dube and Mitchell Santner failed to impress.
But once again, Chennai managed to balance the game with Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni adding a 61-run stand for the seventh wicket and taking the game to the wire. Dhoni smashed a huge six off the very first ball of the last over when Chennai needed 35 runs to win the match and 17 runs to qualify for the playoff.
Yash Dayal made a strong comeback to dismiss Dhoni and defend 10 runs off the last two balls when Jadeja was on strike. Dayal's impressive over restricted Chennai to 191/7 and led Bengaluru to a memorable 27-run win.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru Playing XI: Faf du Plessis (c), Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, Rajat Patidar (substituted by Swapnil Singh), Cameron Green, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Karn Sharma, Yash Dayal, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Siraj.
Chennai Super Kings Playing XI: Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Daryl Mitchell, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Simarjeet Singh, Maheesh Theekshana (substituted by Shivam Dube).
