Dwayne Bravo's 3-24 pegs Royal Challengers Bangalore back after Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal share 111-run opening stand; Chennai Super Kings chase down the 157 target with 11 balls to spare to go top of the IPL standings
Friday 24 September 2021 19:20, UK
Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal's century stand proved to be in vain as Royal Challengers Bangalore crashed to their second successive IPL defeat, losing to Chennai Super Kings by six wickets.
Kohli (53 from 41 balls) and Padikkal (70 from 50) smashed 111 for the opening wicket after Bangalore were put in to bat in Sharjah, but they faltered badly in the death overs and were restricted to 156-6, with CSK's Dwayne Bravo taking 3-24.
Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis built a solid platform for the Super Kings in the run chase and, despite a minor wobble, they chased down the target with 11 balls unused to go top of the table.
Earlier, Bangalore bounced back in emphatic fashion from being bundled out for 92 earlier in the week by Kolkata Knight Riders as Kohli and Padikkal made hay for 13.2 overs.
Kohli bristled with intent from the off but Padikkal reached his half-century first, off 35 balls, with a boundary over backward point that also brought up the 100 stand off 11.1 overs.
It took Kohli one delivery more to post his own fifty, only for the India captain to pick out international colleague Ravindra Jadeja at deep midwicket off the bowling of Bravo.
AB de Villiers (12) appeared to have the perfect platform to tee off but Chennai's attack rallied - Shardul Thakur having the South African caught at cover before picking up Padikkal as he attempted to ramp over short third.
The slump grew to 4-14 as Tim David (one) was undone by Deepak Chahar's leg-cutter and Glenn Maxwell (11 off nine) failed to clear Jadeja in the deep off Bravo.
The West Indian all-rounder conceded just two runs off the final over of the innings to complete a superb Chennai comeback.
The Super Kings also made an impressive start to their pursuit of the target, with Gaikwad (38 from 26) looking set to follow his unbeaten 88 in the previous game against Mumbai with another match-winning knock.
He and Du Plessis (31 from 26) shared an opening stand of 71 from 8.2 overs - only for both batters to depart in the space of six deliveries.
Kohli dived forward at point to hold Gaikwad's drive off Yuzvendra Chahal (1-26) just above the turf, before Maxwell struck with his first ball, persuading Du Plessis to sweep into the hands of backward square.
However, that double blow did not rattle Chennai as Moeen Ali (23 from 18) and Ambati Rayudu (32 from 22) kept their side on course with a partnership of 47.
Neither managed to see the chase through, with Moeen deceived by Harshal Patel's slower ball and spooning a catch to Kohli and Rayudu - who had just struck Harshal for successive boundaries - pulling the seamer into the hands of midwicket.
It was left to Suresh Raina (17 not out) and MS Dhoni (11no) to steer CSK over the line and they achieved that at the start of the 19th over with the minimum of fuss.
Watch the remainder of the IPL live on Sky Sports. The competition continues on Saturday with a double-header! Delhi Capitals take on Rajasthan Royals from 10.50am on Sky Sports Cricket before Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings go head-to-head from 2.50pm.
