Ravindra Jadeja blasted 37 runs in the final over to get to a 24-ball fifty and took three wickets to hand Royal Challengers Bangalore their first defeat of IPL 2021.
Follow Us
Ravindra Jadeja redefined the term one-man demolition army as he put in an all-round performance for the ages. He blasted a 24-ball fifty which included a record-equaling 37 runs in the final over bowled by Harshal Patel. That assault helped Chennai Super Kings reach a total that was already 15-20 runs over-par. Having deflated Royal Challengers Bangalore with the bat, he did it with the ball also. Jadeja took the wickets of Washington Sundar, Glenn Maxwell for the fifth time and AB de Villiers’ to end with 3/13.
In addition to the run-out of Dan Christian, Jadeja’s brilliance ensured Chennai Super Kings won by 69 runs. This handed Royal Challengers Bangalore their first loss of IPL 2021 and it halted their run of four consecutive wins. Virat Kohli’s team would be ruing Jadeja’s drop by Christian off Sundar in hindsight as the major reason for the loss.
For 19 overs in the Chennai Super Kings’ batting, Royal Challengers Bangalore were in control. Harshal Patel had three wickets in quick succession and Mohammed Siraj was bowling brilliantly. But, the 20th over changed the entire complexion of the match. Jadeja blasted five sixes in the over and ended with a boundary as Harshal missed his lengths spectacularly.
The fact that he tore apart Royal Challengers Bangalore’s best bowler killed the morale of RCB. Earlier, Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad started confidently after Chennai Super Kings elected to bat.
Du Plessis and Gaikwad hit 51 runs in the poweplay and looked in great touch. Yuzvendra Chahal broke the dangerous stand but Suresh Raina started confidently with three sixes. But, Harshal and Siraj tightened things in the end and Royal Challengers Bangalore seemed to have restricted MS Dhoni’s side. However, Jadeja had other ideas.
In response, Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal started off like a train. The RCB skipper blasted two fours off Deepak Chahar in the first over. Padikkal hammered two sixes off Sam Curran and three more boundaries off Chahar as Royal Challengers Bangalore reached 44/0 in three overs. However, Curran got some extra bounce and forced Kohli to edge the cut to Dhoni. Shardul Thakur dismissed Padikkal and the RCB chase was broken.
That allowed Jadeja to weave his magic. Realising that Maxwell and de Villiers have weaknesses against left-arm spin and legspin, Dhoni operated both of them at tandem. After getting the wicket of Washington Sundar, Jadeja got Maxwell when the Australian missed the slog across the line to be bowled.
Jadeja exploited de Villiers’ weakness against left-arm spin as well as he got Mr.360 with an arm ball that drifted in and hit middle stump from round the wicket. Imran Tahir, who was playing his first game in IPL 2021, ran through the lower order and the end was swift. Chennai Super Kings are building their own story of resurgence while this loss will be a massive wake-up call for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Rishabh Pant's explosive last-over blitz ignites IPL 2024 amid T20 World Cup comeback talks
