Challenge at your own risk

Bengaluru, May 18

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Royal Challengers Bengaluru continued their fairytale run to grab the fourth and final playoffs berth with a 27-run victory over defending champions Chennai Super Kings in their must-win IPL league game here today.

It was the sixth straight win for RCB, who first posted a solid 218/5 after being invited to bat, and then restricted CSK to 191/7 to make it to the playoffs for the ninth time in 15 seasons.

RCB survived a scare as Ravindra Jadeja (42 not out) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni (25) raised hopes of a turnaround after Rachin Ravindra’s 61 but Yash Dayal held his nerve in the final over to take the hosts home.

While RCB’s fans were ecstatic, the legion of fans of Dhoni sank into despair as it could be the last time they witnessed their ‘Thala’ perform on a cricket field.

All but written off after losing seven out of their first eight games, RCB had stringed five wins on the trot to script a remarkable turnaround to give themselves a chance to make it to the final four. Today, the hosts needed to win by at least 18 runs to book their place. They did that in style with yet another impressive show at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The two teams finished at 14 points but RCB sneaked into the final four on the basis of a better net run-rate.

The equation was in favour of CSK when they began their run-chase as a 200-plus score would have sealed their place at the expense of RCB even if they were to lose the game. — PTI

Brief scores

• RCB: 218/5 in 20 overs (du Plessis 54, Kohli 47; Green 38*; Shardul 2/61) vs CSK: 191/7 in 20 overs: (Ravindra 61, Jadeja 42*, Rahane 33; Dayal 2/42, 1/18 Green)

Friday’s result

• LSG: 214/6 in 20 overs (Pooran 75, Rahul 55; Chawla 3/29, Thushara 3/28) vs MI: 196/6 in 20 overs (Rohit 68, Naman 62*; Bishnoi 2/37)