It was yet another thrilling southern derby, and as we expected, the men from Chennai won the match comprehensively. Chennai held their nerve after a lightning start by the RCB openers and grabbed the steering of the match in the second half of RCB’s innings. They were fabulous in the death overs with the ball, and they also started well with the bat, which was capitalized by the other batsmen who finished the game.
It was a complete team effort by the Chennai boys as they won the match with 11 balls to spare. We did witness some superb performances from both veterans as well as youngsters in the match. Let’s look at some of the key performances of the match.
Champion Bravo
Bravo has been a star for this CSK side for a very long time. He did show a glimpse of his flamboyant batting ability in the first match against MI but, it had been long since he did it with the ball. In the match against RCB, he showcased his vintage self and picked up three wickets, including the big wicket of the RCB captain, Kohli.
Bravo was the star player of the match. He was also awarded the player of the match award. He bowled at an unbelievable economy rate of six and put the brakes on the RCB batting. He picked up three crucial wickets of Kohli, Maxwell, and Harshal Patel. The Caribbean death bowling maestro certainly put up a show in the southern derby of IPL in Sharjah.
Tremendous Thakur
Another hero for CSK with the ball was Shardul Thakur. As we talk about partnerships in batting, there are partnerships in bowling too, and alongside Bravo, he brought CSK back into the game. He picked up crucial wickets at regular intervals, and he adapted to the conditions well as he bowled many slower balls as the pitch started to turn slower and slower.
Thakur bowled economically at a good rate of 7.25, and he also picked up two important wickets of RCB’s one of the main batsmen, the in-form Padikkal and the lethal A.B. Devilliers. He was one of the main reasons RCB couldn’t capitalize on the great start provided by the openers. Thakur is in great form, and he showcased his ability and skills once again against the mighty batting line-up of RCB.
The silver lining for RCB
RCB will be disappointed with their performance against CSK in Sharjah. RCB looked pretty poor with the ball in hand, and they could not stop the flourish by the CSK batsmen. The middle-order collapse of RCB continues to haunt them from their previous match against KKR. However, the silver lining was their opening partnership of 111 in just 13.2 overs.
Kohli found form again and scored a half-century with six boundaries and a maximum. He wasn’t at his best, but he still managed to hit 33.97% of the team’s total runs. His partner and the youngster, Padikkal was at his best as he scored the highest for RCB with 70 off 50 balls. He scored at a strike rate of 140 which included five boundaries and three sixes. Both the openers batted well and gave a great start to their team. RCB will need this to gain the winning momentum in the upcoming matches.
Conclusion
This was a comprehensive win for Chennai Super Kings, who now stand at the top of the table. They only need one more victory to qualify. They had a complete performance both with the bat and ball, and their key players performed their best to win the match for CSK.