IPL 2018, RCB vs CSK: 5 reasons why Bangalore lost

It was the South Indian derby today in the IPL as the Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore took on the M.S Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy stadium.

Chennai won the toss and elected to field. RCB got their innings going courtesy a blistering partnership between AB De Villiers and Quinton De Kock. Some big hitting by Mandeep Singh and Washington Sundar at the end ensured that RCB posted a huge score of 205 runs on the board.

In reply, CSK got off to a bad start as they lost 4 wickets for just 74 runs on the board. However, an outstanding partnership between Ambati Rayadu and M.S Dhoni got them back in the game. 16 runs were needed off the last over and Chennai chased them down with 2 balls to spare. Let us look at the 5 reasons why RCB lost.

---

#1 Another Dhoni special

After being treated to a special inning by M.S Dhoni in the match against Punjab, Chennai’s fans again witnessed a blistering knock by Dhoni.

Dhoni came to the crease with his team in a desperate need of a miracle. As always, Dhoni took his time in the beginning, nudging singles around. But once set, Dhoni showcased some of the greatest hitting you will ever see.

His swashbuckling knock of 70 runs off just 34 balls included a solitary four and 7 massive sixes. In the end, Dhoni’s knock turned out to be the difference between the two sides.

#2 Dropped catch of Rayadu

Ambati Rayadu has had a stupendous IPL this season and he was again amongst the runs today. Batting like a dream, he almost single handily kept CSK in the game at the beginning of their chase. He was equally at ease against the spinners as well as the pacers.

Rayadu tried to hit Anderson out of the park in the 16th over but could only manage to offer an easy chance to Umesh Yadav at covers. Unfortunately for the RCB fans, the ball popped out of Umesh’s hands. Rayadu then rubbed salt into the wounds by smashing Anderson for back to back sixes. This dropped catch cost the RCB team dearly.

#3 Pathetic death bowling

Although RCB’s bowlers have not had a great outing this season, it was expected that they would be able to defend a score of 205 especially after starting off so well. But what followed was one of the worst display of death overs bowling.

Chennai needed a massive 123 runs of the last 10 overs with just one more recognized batsman to come. But RCB’s bowlers missed their lengths consistently and were dispatched over the boundary with ease by Rayadu and Dhoni.

Pawan Negi bowled 2 balls right in the hitting zone of M.S and he didn’t miss out. Mohammad Siraj who has failed to do anything of note in the IPL was hammered for a massive 48 runs off his 4 overs. However, the biggest disappointment of the day was Corey Anderson. The kiwi conceded a whopping 58 runs off just 22 balls.

#4 Poor captaincy by Kohli

Virat Kohli made some questionable decisions during Chennai’s chase today. With the wicket turning square, he bowled only one over of his prime spinner Washington Sundar. Colin De Grandhomme, making his debut for RCB wasn’t given a single over even though he has some good cutters in his repertoire.

The Kiwi Corey Anderson was trusted with the ball again and again despite the fact he was going for runs. Anderson has not been a part of the New Zealand team for a while and trusting him with such big responsibility was a move that was always going to backfire. Ashwin made a bold decision to bowl the spinner Mujeeb in the final over against Delhi and it paid off but Virat did not show enough faith in Washington.

#5 Corey Anderson fails again

Few eyebrows were raised when RCB decided to play Corey Anderson in place of the big-hitting Colin De Grandhomme in the previous game against Mumbai. Some senior pros like Brendon McCullum, Tim Southee, Moeen Ali are warming the bench while Corey Anderson who has not played international cricket for a while is in the playing XI.

After disappointing against Mumbai, Anderson failed to do anything of note today as well. His struggling innings of 2 runs off 8 balls sucked the momentum out of RCB’s innings. With the ball, he was absolutely atrocious and gave many freebies to Dhoni and Rayadu. With 16 needed off the last over, Kohli gave the ball to Anderson but the kiwi failed to repay his faith. Anderson missed with his length and was clobbered for 2 sixes and a four.