Following his side’s win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) game, which secured them the playoff spot, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) skipper Faf Du Plessis said that he would like to dedicate his ‘Player of the Match’ award to pacer Yash Dayal, who successfully defended 11 runs in the final over and also got the prized scalp of MS Dhoni.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) completed their fairytale comeback in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season, securing the playoff spot with a 27-run win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Bengaluru on Saturday.
Following the game, Faf said in the post-match presentation, “What a night! Such a great atmosphere. It was just a pleasure to finish the season in front of the home fans. There was a lot of rain falling on the pitch, and you do not want that moisture. It felt like a day-five test match in Ranchi! I am really proud of the contributions from many batters at good strike rates. We were defending 175 [and neither 201 nor 218]! We tried to get the ball changed tonight. I dedicate the Man of the Match [award] to Yash Dayal! The way he bowled was unbelievable. For a man who is fairly new, he deserves it. I told him to take the pace off on this wicket, it is the best option. It is crazy; even when we were not winning, we had the fans here. It was set up perfectly–CSK vs. RCB! Incredible. Thank you to everyone for their support. It is really important that you enjoy this. Your first goal in the IPL is to try and get in the knockouts.”
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, also congratulated RCB following their win.
“With 6th win in a row, our RCB has entered the playoffs. I was present at the chinnaswamy stadium and enjoyed every moment of the match. It was a pleasure to witness the historic winning moments of our RCB team. This is a new chapter for RCB,” he said in a post on X.
Coming to the match, CSK won the toss and opted to bat first. RCB put on a fine score of 218/5 on the board, with skipper Faf Du Plessis (54 in 39 balls, with three fours and three sixes), Virat Kohli (47 in 29 balls, with three fours and four sixes) put on a 78-run partnership, setting a fine platform for Rajat Patidar (41 in 23 balls, with two fours and four sixes) and Cameron Green (38* in 17 balls, with three fours and three sixes) to put on a 71-run stand for the third wicket.
Cameos from Dinesh Karthik (14 in six balls, with a four and six) and Glenn Maxwell (16 in five balls, with two fours and a six) took RCB to a 200-run plus total.
RCB needed to restrict CSK below 201 runs to qualify for the playoffs and surpass their net-run-rate.
In the run-chase of 219 runs and the task of scoring 201 runs at least to book the top four spot, CSK lost two wickets early and were reduced to 19/2. Rachin Ravindra (61 in 37 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Ajinkya Rahane (33 in 22 balls, with three fours and a six) put up a 66-run stand to bring the side into the game.
RCB sunk CSK to 129/6, but a partnership between Ravindra Jadeja (42* in 22 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and MS Dhoni (25* in 13 balls, with three fours and a six) threatened to take the match away from RCB. However, Yash Dayal defended 11 runs in the final over, restricting CSK to just 191/7 in 20 overs.
Faf secured the ‘Player of the Match’ for his fifty.
RCB is in fourth place with seven wins and seven losses, with 14 points. CSK is in the fifth spot with seven wins and seven losses, but they have slid down to fifth due to a lower net-run rate.