IPL 2020, Match 25: Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore – RCB handed 37-run win after yet another botched-up CSK run-chase

The much-hyped clash between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) turned out to be a rather dull affair, as CSK crawled to their 5th defeat in 7 IPL matches this year, chasing an attainable target of 170. The start to the game was fine enough for CSK, as Deepak Chahar […]
 
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IPL 2020, Match 25: Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore – RCB handed 37-run win after yet another botched-up CSK run-chase

The much-hyped clash between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) turned out to be a rather dull affair, as CSK crawled to their 5th defeat in 7 IPL matches this year, chasing an attainable target of 170.

The start to the game was fine enough for CSK, as Deepak Chahar knocked out the middle stump of an out-of-sorts Aaron Finch with an in-seamer that sneaked past an ambitious drive from the Australian ODI captain. His partner, Devdutt Padikkal was then joined by skipper Virat Kohli, and the two of them then went on to build the innings steadily, laced with some excellent running between the wickets and the occasional boundary.

RCB then suffered a double-blow in the 11th over, losing both Padikkal and new man AB de Villiers. With a middle-order that looked meek on paper, the onus was on skipper Virat Kohli to bat until the 20th over to get RCB to a defendable total. Washington Sundar, promoted to number 5, supported his skipper for 9 deliveries before nicking off to Sam Curran. Shivam Dube then provided good company to Kohli, who succeeded in batting till the end, ending with an unbeaten 90 off 52 deliveries which helped RCB post a total of 169.

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CSK, whose batting has heavily hinged on openers Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson in their previous few matches, suffered an early setback when Faf du Plessis holed out to Chris Morris off Washington Sundar, trying to clear the long leg-side boundary. Sundar struck again two overs later, removing the other opener, Shane Watson, who went for an ill-advised cross-batted swipe only to see his middle-stump being pegged back.

The chase completely stalled for CSK after that. Ambati Rayudu, who, with his whirlwind knock in the inaugural game of the 2020 IPL placed CSK in a winning position against MI, showed absolutely no intent in searching for quick runs or the boundaries. His partner, 2020 IPL debutant Narayan Jagadeesan, did show some promise for a while, smashing a few boundaries before he, too, ran himself out in a rather lax manner, making no effort in grounding his bat while trying to pinch a quick single off the back foot to Chris Morris at long-off, who did well to hit the stumps direct.

IPL 2020, Match 25: Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore – RCB handed 37-run win after yet another botched-up CSK run-chase

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has not been able to set a good example in terms of showing intent with the bat so far this tournament, began well with a powerful hit over long-on off Chahal, but departed soon after, holing out to Gurkeerat Mann at long-off. Sam Curran, who was yet again preserved for the latter stages of the innings, departed first ball, managing a feather touch behind after shuffling across and trying to pull Morris towards long leg.

The chase looked to be well and truly up for CSK by then, and Rayudu’s wicket next over, bowled by a slower one from Udana, only to hammer the final nail in the coffin, not that Rayudu could have done much more anyway. CSK finished with 132 off their 20 Overs, and Chris Morris, in the first IPL game for RCB, finished a successful night for himself with 3 wickets to his name, claiming both Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja in his final over.

CSK v RCB: Major Talking Points from today’s game

Virat Kohli well and truly being back to his best

IPL 2020, Match 25: Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore – RCB handed 37-run win after yet another botched-up CSK run-chase

Virat Kohli doing his best AB de Villiers impression on his way to an unbeaten knock of 90 off 52 balls

RCB’s batting line-up does not quite have the reputation of packing firepower after Kohli and de Villiers. Virat Kohli, walking in at 3 after the early departure of Aaron Finch, knew that he was the one who had to bat deeper to ensure that the youngster, Devdutt Padikkal, does not require curbing his natural, free-flowing game.

The duo pinched singles and doubles whenever they could, with Padikkal finding the fence on a few occasions as per plan, before he was dismissed in the 11th over. The departure of de Villiers three balls later might have added more pressure to the RCB skipper, but as we all know, Kohli thrives under pressure. Partnered by Shivam Dube till the end after Sundar played a hand of 10 off 9, Kohli, having run the bones out of his legs to keep the scoreboard ticking all along, began playing his shots towards the backend of the innings, finishing on an unbeaten 90 off 52 deliveries and majorly contributing to the 66 runs that RCB scored in the last 4 overs.

Sundar shines with the new ball yet again

IPL 2020, Match 25: Chennai Super Kings v Royal Challengers Bangalore – RCB handed 37-run win after yet another botched-up CSK run-chase

Washington Sundar broke the back of CSK’s batting today by removing both their openers

Washington Sundar has been absolutely phenomenal for the RCB so far in this year’s IPL. Rarely going for more than 4 runs an over during the powerplay, Sundar, who was brought on to bowl the fourth over today after the three RCB pacers, Morris, Saini, and Udana kept the runs under check against du Plessis and Watson, went on to take two of the most prized scalps for his side, first removing du Plessis by getting him to hit towards the longer leg-side boundary and having out caught, and then, banking on the mounting pressure, cleaning Watson up after the Australian failed to connect with a slog across the line. Amidst all of this, he had conceded only 11 of the two overs that he bowled, which helped RCB take control of the game thereafter.

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Chris Morris’ day out

RCB has been longing for a seam-bowling overseas all-rounder who has the capability to win matches with ball in hand. Although Chris Morris hasn’t been regarded as a bowler of world-class stature, he has been reputed to hit the deck hard and keep runs down to a minimum in the powerplay. Until 2017, his economy rate in the powerplay overs was 7.31, but the last couple of seasons of the IPL have been rough on him, as he went for runs at a rate of 9.12 in the first six overs in that duration.

Morris, having been included in the side after recovering from a prolonged side strain, took the new ball and gave only one boundary away in his first over, setting things up for the rest of the attack. He then returned to bowl at the middle-overs and was instrumental in cutting down the rate of runs completely, taking the crucial wicket of Sam Curran, who could have been the only CSK batsman to make a difference with 64 required off 4 overs.

Adding his brilliant throw to run a menacing Jagadeesan out to his bowling performance would round off a complete day for him in the field. He was rewarded with two more wickets in his final over, that of Bravo and Jadeja, both caught on the boundary, which ultimately helped him register figures of 3/19 off his 4 overs.

Zero intent from the CSK batsmen

90 percent of Kevin Pietersen’s commentary today was about the lack of intent being shown from the CSK middle-order, particularly Ambati Rayudu. We can’t really blame Pietersen though, watching paint dry has been more interesting than watching CSK trying to chase down a target so far in this year’s IPL. If it was Kedar Jadhav who failed to accelerate in the previous matches, it was Ambati Rayudu’s turn today to do so. Rayudu looked like a common man who just had a heavy dinner and strolled out for a mile-long walk with a bat in hand.

While Jagadeesan, his batting partner for a good part of his innings was eager to accelerate the scoring and pinch those extra runs, he had absolutely no co-operation from his senior partner. Rayudu’s innings went from disgusting to painful as the overs began to run out, and by the time he was bowled trying to comically sweep a back-of-the-hand slower delivery from Udana by moving a kilometer past off-stump, CSK still had 57 runs left with 15 deliveries to get them. In the end, much like the past few matches, CSK limped to a total well below the target set, which had their NRR take yet another blow.