IPL 2018, RCB vs CSK: 5 talking points

Chennai Super Kings came back on top of the table by defeating Royal Challengers Bangalore in a high-scoring encounter at Bangalore.

Batting first, RCB scored 205 runs thanks to AB de Villiers' 30-ball 68 and Quinton de Kock's 53. In reply, CSK were in a difficult situation at 74/4 as barring Ambati Rayudu, all of their batsmen went back to the dugout early.

Dhoni joined Rayudu and the two added 101 runs from 53 deliveries to keep CSK in the game. Dhoni eventually finished the match in spectacular fashion by smashing a six.

The defeat meant that RCB registered their fourth defeat of the tournament in 6 matches. Here are 5 talking points of the RCB-CSK encounter.

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#5 Mandeep Singh and Washington Sundar turning out to be pretty handy during the slog overs

Following Quinton de Kock’s dismissal, AB de Villiers followed suit shortly after before Corey Anderson was out for a duck. At this stage, Mandeep Singh was the crease alongside Colin De Grandhomme with the scoreboard reading 142/4 at 15 overs. RCB had added just 4 runs in the last two overs.

Mandeep Singh and Colin de Grandhomme added 49 from 24 balls for the 5th wicket with the former doing most of the hitting. Singh smashed 32 from 17 deliveries before perishing at the end of the 19th over.

Then came Washington Sundar who smashed a four and a six in the final over to help RCB reach 205.

This wasn’t the first time that Mandeep Singh and Washington Sundar did well during the death overs. The duo also shone against Rajasthan Royals with Mandeep scoring 47 and Washington Sundar scoring 35. Hence, these two will be required to produce many finishing cameos during the forthcoming matches.

#4The partnership between De Kock and AB de Villiers

The South African pair added 103 for the second wicket

The Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to a decent start with Quinton de Kock and Virat Kohli adding 35 for the first wicket before the latter was dismissed. Then, AB de Villiers came in to join de Kock.

The South African pair added 103 for the second wicket from 55 deliveries and both players reached their fifties. While ABD carried his brilliant form against Delhi in this game, Quinton de Kock played his first big innings of IPL 2018.

The partnership came to an end when de Kock was caught and bowled by Bravo after scoring 53 from 37 deliveries. This partnership helped RCB post a challenging total.

#3 The horrendous bowling from Royal Challengers Bangalore

Siraj was extremely disappointing with the ball today

Barring the economical spells of Umesh Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal, RCB’s bowlers were terribly awful. Pawan Negi began well by dismissing Shane Watson but was expensive later on and ended up conceding 36 runs from just three overs.

Washington Sundar gave away 14 runs in his solitary over while Mohammed Siraj’s spell was expensive as well as embarrassing towards the end. Having already conceded 34 runs from three overs, Siraj gave 9 runs in five deliveries before bowling three consecutive wides. He eventually ended his spell at 0/48.

Corey Anderson was the most expensive of them all, conceding 58 runs from 3.4 overs including 17 runs in the final over. Provided the RCB bowlers produce such lackluster performances in their future games, their campaign this year won’t be much different to that of last year.

#2 The game-changing partnership between Rayudu and Dhoni

Rayudu and Dhoni were simply spectacular with the bat tonight

Having lost Watson, Raina, Billings and Jadeja with only 74 runs on the board, CSK needed somebody to support the settled Ambati Rayudu. And came in MS Dhoni.

Dhoni began to smash the RCB bowlers for one six after another while Rayudu was further consolidating his innings. The pair added 101 for the 5th wicket from 53 balls to bring CSK back into the game.

Both players eventually reached their respective fifties as the RCB bowlers were totally helpless. The partnership came to an end when Rayudu got out for 82 from 53 deliveries. This partnership was a huge factor in CSK’s win tonight.

#1 Dhoni still has plenty left to offer in his career

Dhoni was undoubtedly CSK's hero tonight

On seeing MS Dhoni’s performances in his last three games, one thing is for sure and that is Dhoni will be one of the stars of the tournament. Tonight, he played a gem of an innings under pressure. When things got rough for Chennai, their skipper smashed sixes to ease the pressure on Ambati Rayudu.

Following Rayudu’s dismissal, the pressure was totally on MSD as 30 runs were needed in the final two overs. However, he smashed a crucial six in the penultimate over to make things a little less difficult for CSK. In the final over, MSD ended the match in his manner with a magnificent strike into the crowd. The CSK skipper ended with 70 from just 34 deliveries, hitting just a boundary and smashing 7 sixes. He has deservingly adjudged the Man of the Match.

To sum it all up, this knock was an "On-your face" gesture from Dhoni to his critics.