IPL 2019: Two most heartbreaking losses for RCB at CSK's home
The Indian Premier League is undoubtedly the most popular league in the world. With the T20 extravaganza set to begin on 23rd March, the entire cricketing would be gearing up to shift their gaze towards the magnificent carnival.
The IPL has had no shortage of memorable nights, from Brendon McCullum’s belligerent 158 which set the IPL on fire to Virat’s four hundreds in a single season or for that matter the innumerable last over finishes by MS Dhoni, the IPL has certainly thrown up severable memorable and iconic moments that will be etched in the minds of ardent cricket fans forever.
The nature of T20 cricket is such that no game is over till it is actually over. The sole reason why T20 cricket attracts a lot of interest from fans is because this format is capable of producing nail-biting matches and tense finishes.
Talking about nail-biting matches, Royal Challengers Bangalore failed twice against Chennai Super Kings from winning positions. This article encapsulates two such instances where RCB failed to capitalize and close out games against CSK in Chennai.
1) Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore (Chennai, 2012)
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, Royal Challengers Bangalore had posted a massive score of 205/8. Chris Gayle (68) and Virat Kohli (57) stitched together a partnership of 153 runs and the CSK players were completely sapped in hot and humid conditions.
In reply, CSK were off to a steady start. At the halfway mark they lost Vijay and Raina and the score was 88/2. Faf Du Plessis perfectly played the role of a sheet anchor and contributed a stroke-filled 71 off 46 deliveries.
Dhoni on the other started attacking from the word go. His aggressive 41 off just 24 balls was not enough to overshadow Muralitharan’s amazing spell of 3/21 in four overs. Once Dhoni departed in the last ball of the 18th over, the equation was still 43 required off 12 deliveries.
Even the most enthusiastic CSK supporters were doubting their chances.
Skipper Daniel Vettori chose Virat Kholi to bowl the penultimate over ahead of the uncapped Indian all-rounder Raju Bhatkal.
What transpired in that over was just a brutal assault from Albie Morkel. Morkel smashed 28 runs off that over, which included three sixes and two fours. CSK clawed their way back into the match needing 15 to win off the last 6 deliveries.
Though Vinay Kumar took Morkel’s wicket, it wasn’t enough to stop CSK from winning as Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo stood till the end and sealed a memorable win for Chennai.