Bengaluru: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) continued their remarkable run by securing a spot in the IPL 2024 playoffs with a gripping 27-run victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
The match witnessed a heartwarming moment as RCB’s skipper Virat Kohli and his wife, actor Anushka Sharma, were overwhelmed with emotions following the team’s crucial win at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
RCB’s remarkable journey in the tournament saw them secure their ninth playoff appearance in 15 seasons, thanks to their sixth consecutive win.
The emotional moment shared by Kohli and Anushka Sharma after the big win was captured by the cameras and shared on the IPL’s official social media page.
Kohli’s blistering start with the bat, contributing 47 runs, set the tone for RCB’s imposing total of 218/5.
Despite CSK’s spirited fightback led by Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni, RCB held their nerve, with Yash Dayal’s composed final over ensuring victory.
The win not only sealed RCB’s playoff berth but also highlighted their incredible comeback after a slow start to the season, where they had managed only one win in the initial matches.
RCB is in fourth place with seven wins and seven losses, with 14 points. CSK is in the fifth spot with seven wins and seven losses, but they have slid down to fifth due to a lower net-run rate.
In contrast, CSK’s title came to an end, leaving questions about MS Dhoni’s future with the team amidst speculation surrounding his playing days.
With Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) securing the top spot in the table, RCB will now prepare for the IPL Eliminator match while awaiting their opponent.
Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad have already qualified for the play-offs.
“People will remember this RCB team for decades….”: Dinesh Karthik
Moments after Royal Challengers Bengaluru created history at Chinnaswamy Stadium, storming into the IPL playoffs with six wins in six successive games, wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik told his team-mates that people will remember this RCB team for a long time to come.
Joyous over six in a trot win, Dinesh Karthik told the RCB dressing room, as quoted by a press release from RCB, “Not only people, but even other teams in the future, will be inspired by the incredible turnaround his team has achieved this season.”
RCB made it to the playoffs after having a poor win-loss record of a win and seven losses in the first eight games, but winning the next six games.
“We should be really proud of this journey we are having. People will always remember certain journeys. The way we have come back after eight games, we needed to win six, people will remember this team,” he said.
“Every year in this tournament, when you hit the seven-game mark, there will be one or two teams which would have probably won one or two and they will look to us and say, ‘RCB did it. That was special. We are going to try and repeat what RCB did.’ And that is what we all play cricket for–a sport for, which people follow us and believe that they can do something special. It is hard. It is not going to be easy, I can tell any team that. What we have achieved today is very, very special. We should be really proud of ourselves, winning six out of six,” Karthik added.
Heading onto the Eliminator in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, Karthik feels RCB have given themselves the opportunity to achieve something so extraordinary that their feats will remain on people’s minds for years.
“When we get on that flight to Ahmedabad, we have a job to do. We have it within our grasp to do something that people will remember for many decades. It will be a journey where people will say, ‘wow, that RCB team was special.’ We are on that journey. We can do something really special if we put our minds to it. Nothing different. Just the same thing, over and over and over again. We will be the team that other teams look at,” Karthik said.
What made RCB’s passage to the playoffs even more special was that it came against the defending champions from Chennai, with whom RCB have had a long-standing rivalry.
Adding to the challenge was the fact that RCB’s batting build-up was interrupted by a rain break, and they had to contend with the turning ball in changed conditions upon resumption.
“We have to understand the gravity of this game. This has been one of the marquee games for many, many years. It is fair to say they have found a way sometimes to get ahead of us. Coming into this game, there was a sense of quiet confidence about us, playing the defending champions, and the way we played, we should be really proud of ourselves, right up to the last ball,” Karthik said.
Hailing RCB as the best fielding unit, Karthik mentioned the catching heroics of Faf du Plessis and Swapnil Singh. “We can proudly say we are the best fielding team in this tournament, without a doubt. That catch, Faf, was special. Swapnil’s catch as well, when it mattered the most, was serious. And my keeping, that was outstanding! Most importantly, as a team, we did phenomenally well, staying there in the game,” Karthik said, while also praising Yash Dayal on his excellent last over for closing out the game.
Karthik said another team could have settled for a total of 150 considering the changed conditions after the rain, but RCB had overcome them and put on a show for their 12th Man Army.
“What makes today really special, according to me, is that a lot of things went against what you would have ideally wanted. For a start, Faf, with the toss. But then we showed why we are so special as a team in this journey. Even though it turned, we had a rain break, and we had to go, start again, Just the way Virat and Faf played the next three overs made it feel like 140-150 could be a decent total. Most teams would have thought about that and we would have thought about that for a second as well.”
“But after that, to go out there, play the way we did against all odds, taking the game on, and that is something our support staff has been constantly harping on… showing that yet again in Bangalore, we all know how proud our franchisee is and how our fans are and we gave them a treat to watch,” Karthik concluded.
Coming to the match, CSK won the toss and opted to bat first. RCB put on a fine score of 218/5 on the board, with skipper Faf Du Plessis (54 in 39 balls, with three fours and three sixes), Virat Kohli (47 in 29 balls, with three fours and four sixes) put on a 78-run partnership, setting a fine platform for Rajat Patidar (41 in 23 balls, with two fours and four sixes) and Cameron Green (38* in 17 balls, with three fours and three sixes) to put on a 71-run stand for the third wicket.
Cameos from Dinesh Karthik (14 in six balls, with a four and six) and Glenn Maxwell (16 in five balls, with two fours and a six) took RCB to a 200-run plus total.
RCB needed to restrict CSK below 201 runs to qualify for the playoffs and surpass their net-run-rate.
In the run-chase of 219 runs and the task of scoring 201 runs at least to book the top four spot, CSK lost two wickets early and were reduced to 19/2. Rachin Ravindra (61 in 37 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Ajinkya Rahane (33 in 22 balls, with three fours and a six) put up a 66-run stand to bring the side into the game.
RCB sunk CSK to 129/6, but a partnership between Ravindra Jadeja (42* in 22 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and MS Dhoni (25* in 13 balls, with three fours and a six) threatened to take the match away from RCB. However, Yash Dayal defended 11 runs in the final over, restricting CSK to just 191/7 in 20 overs.
RCB is in fourth place with seven wins and seven losses, with 14 points. CSK is in the fifth spot with seven wins and seven losses, but they have slid down to fifth due to a lower net-run rate.
