No-balls, giant sixes, pressure catches, and a climax that had everyone on the edge of their seats. RCB vs CSK didn’t fail to deliver
ESPNcricinfo staff18-May-2024After 67 matches in IPL 2024, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) were locked in an intense duel for the final playoffs berth. The possibility of rain playing spoilsport had dominated much of the pre-match conversation, but to the relief of cricket lovers, not only did the game take place, it went the distance.RCB, thanks to a majestic 54 from captain Faf du Plessis, managed a daunting 218. But the catch: CSK needed 201 to qualify for the playoffs, thanks to a superior net run-rate. As expected, the game twisted and turned several times, before some familiar faces took centre stage in a thrilling finish.MS Dhoni, with a cloud hanging over his IPL future, and Ravindra Jadeja were together at the crease, with CSK needing 35 off 12 balls. They were up against Lockie Ferguson. Sounds familiar?Would get his fairy-tale ending?Here’s how it went on ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentary, helmed by Himanshu Agrawal.18.1Ferguson to Dhoni, (no ball)It’s an above-waist no-ball, and so a free hit. Ferguson bowls a beamer which is way over Dhoni, and dipping in front of Karthik. Dhoni looked to ramp still, but missed18.1Ferguson to Dhoni, 1 runOn a length around off, but seemingly too quick. A mistimed pull towards midwicketDhoni changes his bat…18.2Ferguson to Jadeja, FOUR runsSwat-pulls this shortish ball on middle and leg to hit past short fine. The ball dribbles away to the boundary. He just uses the pace of Ferguson there to time it in the gap18.3Ferguson to Jadeja, 1 runShorter side of a length on middle, and whipped to deep square18.4Ferguson to Dhoni, FOUR runsBashed over extra cover! He went thrashing at this length ball outside off at 145kph, even as the ball came off the outside half of the bat18.5Ferguson to Dhoni, 1 runShort of a length on middle, and he pulls but gets a bottom edge towards deep square leg23 off 7 to qualify for CSK…18.6Ferguson to Jadeja, SIX runsAnd Jadeja dumps it over midwicket! Gets his front leg out of the way of this length delivery which is angling across towards middle, and clobbers the pull for a timely – in every sense of the word – six!Yash Dayal bowled a superb final over to complete the job for RCB•BCCICSK needed 17 to qualify. RCB needed to keep CSK to 200 at most, which meant they could concede 16 at the most.Yash Dayal to Dhoni19.1Yash Dayal to Dhoni, SIX runsPings the top tier! Dhoni goes for the pull, and although it seemed to have come off the top half of the bat, it went behind the wicket for a massive six. Dhoni swivelled at this shortish ball, and bang!11 off 5 to qualify for CSK…19.2Yash Dayal to Dhoni, OUTSlower ball… and Dhoni falls! Half the Chinnaswamy erupts out of joy; the other half wonders if they have seen Dhoni for the last time ever. Dayan bowls a length ball angling away towards off, but this is from the back of the hand. Dhoni goes hoicking across the line, but can hit it only as far as deep backward square leg. Who knows we may have seen the last of Dhoni on the fieldThakur at No. 919.3Yash Dayal to Thakur, no runAhh, and he is beaten! Short of a length and angling away at just 106kph, as Thakur has a pull but misses19.4Yash Dayal to Thakur, 1 runFull length on off, and he has a massive across-the-line heave. But there is an outside edge towards short third insteadJadeja has to score 10 from 2 balls for CSK to qualify. He did that in last year’s final, and CSK won the trophy…19.5Yash Dayal to Jadeja, no runAhh, and Jadeja is beaten! Again Chinnaswamy believe that RCB are all but through. On a length and wide-ish of off, as Jadeja swings but missesOnly if it’s not a no-ball or a wide…19.6Yash Dayal to Jadeja, no runAnother dot… RCB make the playoffs! Short of a length, and again around sixth stump, as Jadeja went pulling but missed. So defending champs CSK are eliminated. The RCB players are leaping and rejoicing even before the ball has reached the keeper’s glovesAn inspiring performance from RCB: they win six in a row to qualify for the playoffs, when at one stage they were No. 10, right at the bottom of the table. And that was a result of just as many losses on the bounce. Terrific from RCB when it mattered most: Kohli, du Plessis, Jacks, Siraj and co, everyone stepped up and rebuilt brick by brick to get their house back in order.