"It was the game-changing moment" - Rajat Patidar makes a big statement after RCB's historic IPL 2025 triumph against CSK at Chepauk
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Rajat Patidar opined that Josh Hazlewood's two-wicket spell at the start of Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) chase was the game-changing moment in the IPL 2025 at Chepauk on Friday, March 28. Hazlewood removed Rahul Tripathi (5) and CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (0) in one over to reduce the batting side to 8-2.
RCB beat CSK by 50 runs in match number eight of IPL 2025 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Royal Challengers Bengaluru thus registered their first win over Chennai at Chepauk in 17 years. That's not all; RCB also inflicted the biggest home defeat on CSK in terms of runs.
There were many memorable performances from Bengaluru players in the match against Chennai. Gaikwad, however, picked Hazlewood's opening spell as the game's defining moment. He said (as quoted by Cricbuzz):
"It was the game-changing moment because I think we got 2-3 wickets in the powerplay, t was amazing to see how they bowled the hard length consistently."
Tripathi tried to pull a short ball from Hazlewood, but only managed to chip a simple catch to midwicket. Gaikwad also top-edged an attempted pull and lost his wicket. CSK were reduced to 26-3 inside the powerplay as Deepak Hooda (4) was caught behind off Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Apart from Hazlewood (3-21), Yash Dayal (2-18) and Liam Livingstone (2-28) also impressed with the ball.
"We were targeting around 200" - Rajat Patidar on RCB's batting effort against CSK
Before the bowling unit came up with a dominant performance, RCB's batters also put up a good show. Asked to take first strike, they put up 196-7 on the board. Patidar led from the front with 51 off 32 balls, while Phil Salt (32 off 16) and Tim David (22* off 18) played impactful cameos. Reflecting on RCB's batting effort in the match, Patidar said:
"It was a good total on this surface. Ball was stopping a bit and it wasn't easy for batters. It's always special playing at Chepauk against Chennai because of the fans. Not only CSK but every team, it is nice to play in their home ground. We were targeting around 200 because we knew it wasn't easy to chase.
"My goal was clear that as long as I was there I will keep trying every ball," the 31-year-old went on to add.
RCB will next take on Gujarat Titans (GT) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on April 2. As for CSK, they will face Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati on March 30.