Chennai: Skipper Rajat Patidar struck his first half-century as captain as Royal Challengers Bengaluru rode on his efforts to reach 196/7 in 20 overs in a topsy-turvy innings in Match 8 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Friday.
Patidar capitalized on a couple of dropped chances by the CSK fielders to his some brilliant shots to reach his half-century off 30 balls. He was out soon after and just when it looked like RCB would fall well short of the 200-run mark, Tim David hammered a hat-trick of sixes in the final over to pull them close to what looks like a par-score.
Most of the RCB batters got starts — Phil Salt contributed 32 off 16 balls, Virat Kohli scored 31 off 31, Devdutt Padikkal struck 27 off 14 and Tim David remained unbeaten on 22 off eight balls in a fine cameo as RCB and CSK fought back each time the other was trying to take control of the proceedings.
For CSK, Noor Ahmad was on the ball once again, adding 3-36 to the 4-18 he claimed against Mumbai Indians in their opening match. Matheesha Pathirana claimed two wickets in one over in the brilliant effort in the death overs.
Asked to bat first, RCB made a brisk start thanks mainly to English opener Phil Salt who came out all guns blazing, hitting Khaleel Ahmed for back-to-back boundaries in the first over. He then pulled Ravichandran Ashwin over a fine leg and followed that up with a cut through extra cover and another pull to the boundary for successive fours.
His belligerence ended when MS Dhoni effected a mesmerizing stumping off Noor Ahmad to end his knock for a 16-ball 32 studded with five boundaries and a six. Dhoni’s lightning-quick work behind the stumps left the fans swooning in pleasure.
Things took a strange turn after that as every time one team tried to take control of the match, the other would produce a superb moment to thwart them.
Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal added 30 runs for the second wicket before the latter, who hit some big shots, fell to Ashwin. Patidar and Kohli, after a cautious start, struck Pathirana for a six and four off successive balls before he fell to Noor Ahmad for 31.
Patidar was dropped in the deep off Ravindra Jadeja and Noor but capitalized on the lives as he struck some superb shots to help the team reach a good position. He blasted a six and four off Jadeja and treated Pathirana for a six and Khaleel Ahmed for a four before he was caught by Sam Curran off Pathirana.
RCB lost Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, and Krunal Pandya in search of quick runs before Tim David gave them the boost with his last-over heroics, hitting Sam Curran for a hat-trick of sixes.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 196/7 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 51, Phil Salt 32, Tim David 22 not out; Noor Ahmad 3-36, Matheesha Pathirana 2-36) against Chennai Super Kings.
(IANS)
