It is not often the boisterous crowd at the M.A. Chidamabaram Stadium gets drowned out when Chennai Super Kings play. However, on Friday (March 28, 2025), chants of ‘RCB, RCB’ were heard loud through the evening as Royal Challengers Bengaluru ended its 17-year wait for success against CSK at Chepauk with a clinical 50-run win over the five-time champion.
Also read: IPL 2025, CSK vs RCB match highlights
Asked to bat first, the visitor posted a strong 196 for seven, riding on skipper Rajat Patidar’s half-century (51, 32b, 4×4, 3×6) while Phil Salt and Devdutt Padikkal scored useful cameos.
It was always going to be a tricky chase on a surface where it was not easy to hit through the line whenever the bowlers took pace off their deliveries.
The Super Kings’ chase went off the rails early in the second over when Josh Hazlewood removed Rahul Tripathi and Ruturaj Gaikwad, both batters caught on the pull.
The Aussie pacer and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were miserly in the PowerPlay as the host meandered to 30 for three. Rachin Ravindra tried his best and gave the home side something to cheer with a few hits to the fence.
However, he lacked support from the other end as the likes of Sam Curran and Shivam Dube struggled to force the pace against the spinners. Left-arm pacer Yash Dayal pretty much sealed the game for his side in 13th over when he cleaned up Rachin with a perfect yorker.
Earlier, opener Salt gave the perfect launchpad for RCB, scoring a 16-ball 32. His knock, though, was cut short when he was stumped by another piece of wicketkeeping masterclass from M.S. Dhoni off Noor Ahmad.
Patidar started slowly and had his share of luck after he was dropped on 17 and 19 by Deepak Hooda and Tripathi, respectively, in successive overs.
He then made the home team pay for their fumbles, taking on Ravindra Jadeja. Patidar slogged the left-arm spinner over the ropes through square-leg and followed it with two more hits to the fence through the off-side in a 15-run over 14th over. Tim David (22 n.o., 8b, 1×4, 3×6) ensured the Bengaluru side finished strongly, muscling a hat-trick of sixes off Curran in the final over, shocking the crowd into silence. CSK never found its voice.
Scoreboard
Royal Challengers:
Phil Salt st. Dhoni b Noor 32 (16b, 5×4, 1×6), Virat Kohli c Rachin b Noor 31 (30b, 2×4, 1×6), Devdutt Padikkal c Ruturaj b Ashwin 27 (14b, 2×4, 2×6), Rajat Patidar c Curran b Pathirana 51 (32b, 4×4, 3×6), Liam Livingstone b Noor 10 (9b, 1×6), Jitesh Sharma c Jadeja b Khaleel 12 (6b, 1×4, 1×6), Tim David (not out) 22 (8b, 1×4, 3×6), Krunal Pandya c Hooda b Pathirana 0 (3b), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (not out) 0 (2b); Extras (lb-3, w-8): 11; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 196.
Fall of wickets:
1-45 (Salt, 4.6 overs), 2-76 (Padikkal, 7.5), 3-117 (Kohli, 12.2), 4-145 (Livingstone, 15.3), 5-172 (Jitesh, 17.4), 6-176 (Patidar, 18.1), 7-177 (Krunal, 18.4).
Chennai Super Kings bowling:
Khaleel 4-0-28-1, Ashwin 2-0-22-1, Curran 3-0-34-0, Noor 4-0-36-3, Jadeja 3-0-37-0, Pathirana 4-0-36-2.
Chennai Super Kings:
Rachin Ravindra b Dayal 41 (31b, 5×4), Rahul Tripathi c Salt b Hazlewood 5 (3b, 1×4), Ruturaj Gaikwad c sub (Bhandage) b Hazlewood 0 (4b), Deepak Hooda c Jitesh b Bhuvneshwar 4 (9b, 1×4), Sam Curran c Krunal b Livingstone 8 (13b), Shivam Dube (Impact Player for Pathirana) b Dayal 19 (15b, 2×4, 1×6), Ravindra Jadeja c Salt b Hazlewood 25 (19b, 2×4, 1×6), R. Ashwin c Salt b Livingstone 11 (8b, 1×4), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 30 (16b, 3×4, 2×6), Noor Ahmad (not out) 0 (2b); Extras (b-1, w-2): 3; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 146.
Fall of wickets:
1-8 (Tripathi, 1.2), 2-8 (Ruturaj, 1.6), 3-26 (Hooda, 4.4), 4-52 (Curran, 8.5), 5-75 (Rachin, 12.1), 6-80 (Dube, 12.5), 7-99 (Ashwin, 15.2), 8-130 (Jadeja, 18.4).
RCB bowlings:
Bhuvneshwar 3-0-20-1, Hazlewood 4-0-21-3, Dayal 3-0-18-2, Livingstone 4-0-28-2, Suyash (Impact Player for Padikkal) 4-0-32-0, Krunal 2-0-26-0.
Toss: CSK; PoM: Patidar.
RCB won by 50 runs.
Jadeja (14) and Dhoni (3) were at the crease. Rachin (41), Tripathi (5), Ruturaj (0), Hooda (4), Curran (8), Dube (19) and Ashwin (11) were the batters dismissed
Published – March 28, 2025 07:23 pm IST
