IPL 2020, CSK v RCB: Who won yesterday's match?
Virat Kohli's 52-ball 90* grabbed the headlines on Saturday evening as the Royal Challengers Bangalore picked up a 37-run win over the Chennai Super Kings in the 25th match of IPL 2020 at Dubai International Stadium.
On winning the toss, RCB skipper Kohli opted to bat first, and CSK made early inroads, with Deepak Chahar pegging back Aaron Finch's middle stump in the third over.
RCB starlet Devdutt Padikkal and Kohli then stitched together a 53-run partnership, before the former was dismissed for a 34-ball 33 in the 11th over. AB de Villiers' stay at the crease lasted merely two balls as the South African superstar edged a delivery from Shardul Thakur to MS Dhoni, and suddenly, RCB were in trouble at 67/3 after 10.5 overs.
However, Kohli took up the onus of getting RCB to a respectable total and unfurled a wide array of shots, taking on the CSK bowlers with relative ease. The 31-year-old reached his half-century in 39 balls with a swivel-pull through square leg, and from then on, there was no stopping him.
Kohli scored 37 runs off the next 13 balls he faced, and with Washington Sundar (10) and Shivam Dube (22*) contributing with useful cameos, RCB put on 169/4 from their 20 overs.
Set a target of 170 to get, CSK never got going in their chase, losing Faf du Plessis (10-ball 8) on the last ball of the fourth over. RCB struck once more within the powerplay, with Sundar castling Shane Watson (18-ball 14) as the Super Kings' scorecard read 26/2 at the end of six overs.
Kohli's rotation of the fielders and some top field placements saw CSK score just two boundaries in the next five overs, and with runs hard to come by, the batting side opted for the timeout at the end of the 12th over.
Post the timeout, CSK needed 75 runs off the next seven overs, and despite a few blows from the batsmen, the RCB bowlers maintained some tight lines and lengths and reaped rich rewards.
From the 14th over onwards, every over produced a wicket for RCB, and once Yuzvendra Chahal had Dhoni (10) caught at long-off on the final ball of the 16th over, it was all but over for CSK.
Eventually, RCB restricted CSK to 132/8 from their 20 overs, bringing about a 37-run victory for Kohli's men that took them to fourth place on the IPL 2020 points table.
IPL 2020: CSK v RCB, Who won man of the match yesterday?
RCB skipper Virat Kohli was at his dominating best against CSK, taking up the onus of leading his side to a challenging total after they lost the top three batsmen for just 67 runs.
With RCB at 67/3 after 11 overs and just the all-rounders to come, Kohli put up quite a show and swung the momentum in RCB's favour with a 52-ball 90* that had just four fours and four sixes.
The biggest trademark of Kohli's innings was that he scored just 40 of his runs in boundaries, with the other 50 odd runs coming as a result of quick singles and doubles taken during the course of his knock.
Ultimately, the knock proved to be a game-changer, and Virat Kohli was named as the Man of the Match in yesterday's IPL match.