CHENNAI, India (AP) — Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended their 17-year drought against Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk in the Indian Premier League after a resounding 50-run victory on Friday.
Captain Rajat Patidar’s 51 led Bengaluru to 196-7 despite Afghan left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad claiming the key wicket of Phil Salt in the powerplay and Virat Kohli’s in the middle overs. Kohli struggled to 31 off 30 balls.
A revamped Bengaluru pace attack comprising of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazlewood clipped Chennai in the first six overs and the home team limped to 146-8.
Bengaluru, which has never won the IPL, has got off to a perfect start with two big away wins against defending champion Kolkata Knight Riders and five-time champion Chennai.
Chennai chokes against pace
Hazlewood struck twice in his first over, getting Rahul Tripathi and Chennai captain Ruturaj Gaikwad caught off mistimed pull shots, followed by dismissing Ravindra Jadeja with another short ball.
“It was game-changing (the powerplay) because we got three wickets in the first six overs,” Patidar said. “Amazing to see how they kept it on the hard length because the ball wasn’t coming on to the bat easily.”
Kumar found Deepak Hooda’s faint outside edge and Yash Dayal put Chennai on the mat at 80-6 in the 13th over with the wickets of Shivam Dube and top-scorer Rachin Ravindra (41).
Dube tried to cut Dayal only to inside edge onto his stumps on 19, and then clean-bowled Ravindra with a yorker.
Chennai veterans Mahendra Singh Dhoni (30 not out) and Jadeja (25) reduced the size of their first loss to Bengaluru since the inaugural 2008 IPL season as they were squeezed by the visiting bowlers.
“Bad fielding cost us,” Gaikwad said. “When you’re chasing 170, you have a little more time, but when you’re chasing 20 runs extra you have to bat differently in the powerplay and it didn’t happen today.”
Patidar profits from dropped catches
Kohli took the back seat in the powerplay as Salt smacked five fours and a six and blazed 32 off 16 balls before he fell to Dhoni’s brilliant reflex stumping off Ahmad.
Devdutt Padikkal kept the scoreboard ticking at over nine an over with a breezy 27 off 14.
But Chennai wasted at least three opportunities to dismiss Patidar, and Kohli’s scratchy innings ended when he couldn’t clear Ravindra at deep midwicket.
Patidar hit three sixes and four boundaries before Matheesha Pathirana struck twice in the penultimate over which cost Chennai just one run from a wide ball. Pathirana had Patidar finally caught at cover off a full delivery.
Tim David gave Bengaluru a blazing finish when he smashed three consecutive sixes in Sam Curran’s last over and finished with 22 off eight balls.
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