IPL 2015, Qualifier 2: CSK vs RCB - As it happened...

Chennai Super Kings completed a 3-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore to enter the IPL 2015 final. In case you missed the match, here is how it all happened.

IPL 2015, Qualifier 2: CSK vs RCB - As it happened...

New Delhi: Michael Hussey (56) helped Chennai Super Kings to a 3-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Ranchi. After a clinical bowling performance, the CSK batsmen chased down the target in the last over of the match. CSK will play MI in the finals of IPL2015 in Kolkata on May 24.

CSK Innings

Over 20 | Score 140/7 (Ashwin 1*, Jadeja 0*)

Patel bowled the last over. Despite him dismissing Dhoni, CSK chased down the target with a single by Ashwin off the penultimate ball. RCB put in a good effort to take this match right down to the wire. CSK go into yet another final.

Dhoni c Karthik b Patel 26 (29b)


Over 19 | Score 135/6 (Dhoni 12)

Starc came back into the attack. Dhoni danced down, met the ball on the full and forced it over mid-on's head for a four. However, CSK lost 2 wickets of consecutive balls. Wow!

Bravo b Starc 0 (1b)

Negi run out 12 (6b)


Over 18 | Score 127/4 (Dhoni 15*, Negi 11*)

Patel came back into the attack. Negi cleared his front leg and clobbered the ball over deep midwicket for his first six. The little man can definitely hit them!


Over 17 | Score 113/4 (Dhoni 13*, Negi 0*)

Wiese came back into the attack. He banged it in short on the leg and Hussey top-edged the ball, which was easily caught by Patel at short fine leg

Hussey c Patel b Wiese 56 (46b)


Over 16 | Score 106/3 (Hussey 55*, Dhoni 10*)

Chahal continued. Hussey stepped out to meet the ball and smack it over long-off for the first six of the innings. He then got to his fifty with another massive six over long-on.


Over 15 | Score 91/3 (Hussey 41*, Dhoni 9*)

Starc came back into the attack. The batsmen dealt in singles against RCB's premier bowler. Six singles were picked up off that over. Simple and smart batting by Dhoni and Hussey.


Over 14 | Score 85/3 (Hussey 38*, Dhoni 6*)

Chahal was brought back into the attack. The leg-spinner was excellent, giving away just 3 runs. Probably, the CSK duo wanted to see him off.


Over 13 | Score 82/3 (Hussey 37*, Dhoni 4*)

Aravind came back into the attack. Hussey rolled his wrists and played the ball wide of the deep square leg fielder for a boundary.


Over 12 | Score 72/3 (Hussey 28*, Dhoni 3*)

Wiese continued. Hussey played a glorious cover drive to a pitched up delivery for four. Mr. Cricket rolled back the years there.


Over 9 | Score 58/1 (Hussey 17*, F du Plessis 21*)

Wiese continued. Faf caped off his over by hitting two consecutive fours on the last 2 balls. CSK are cruising now. Time for a strategic break.


Over 7 | Score 47/1 (Hussey 15*, F du Plessis 12*)

Yuzvendra Chahal came on to bowl. The leg-spinner conceded just 6 runs in his 1st over. However, RCB's fielding has been poor, especially in the outfield. Also, the dew on the field is making matters more hard for the fielding side.


Over 6 | Score 34/1 (Hussey 11*, F du Plessis 58*)

Aravind continued. He continued to bowl well. After Smith's wicket, Hussey has steadied the CSK ship and the Aussie is happy stroking the ball around for singles.


Over 5 | Score 28/1 (Hussey 9*, F du Plessis 5*)

Harshal Patel came on to bowl. Hussey hit a short bowl wide of the fielder at deep backward square leg for a four. Great control on that shot by the veteran.


Over 4 | Score 23/1 (Hussey 4*, F du Plessis 1*)

Aravind continued. The left-arm pacer got rid off the dangerous Smith. The right-hander pulled the ball straight to Starc at deep square leg. The new batsman Faf du Plessis edged the first ball he faced, only to be dropped by Gale at first slip.

Smith c Starc b Aravind 17 (12b)


Over 3 | Score 21/0 (Smith 17*, Hussey 3*)

Starc continued. Two fours came off that over, as Smith hit the ball over covers and the under-edged another between keeper and first slip. Starc appears to struggling with his back yet again. Not looking good for RCB.


Over 2 | Score 10/0 (Smith 7*, Hussey 2*)

Aravind was introduced into the attack. Smith tonked the ball straight over Hussey's head at the no-striker's end for a four.


Over 1 | Score 3/0 (Smith 1*, Hussey 1*)

Mitchell Starc took the new ball for RCB. The Aussie bowled extremely well to restrict Dwayne Smith and Mike Hussey to a single each.


RCB Innings

Over 20 | Score 139/8 (Aravind 0*, Starc 1*)

Bravo continued. Sarfaraz picked up his slower ball and it it over covers for a four. However, RCB lost two wickets in that over and scored just 2 runs off the last 4 balls. Kohli will be disappointed with the effort of his side.

Khan c Negi b Bravo 31 (21b)

Patel run out 2 (3b)


Over 19 | Score 131/6 (Sarfaraz 26*, Patel 1*)

Mohit came back into the attack. Wiese hit a skiddy delivery straight into Bravo's hands at long-on. Sarfaraz flicked a length ball between deep square leg and long-on to score a much-needed boundary.

Wiese c Bravo b Sharma 12 (7b)


Over 18 | Score 124/5 (Sarfaraz 20*, Wiese 12*)

Bravo came back to bowl. Wiese stuck the ball cleanly to plant it into the stand over cow corner. Wiese rode his luck as Faf du Plessis dropped him at fine leg off Bravo's last ball. The West Indian was not too happy with that.


Over 17 | Score 113/5 (Sarfaraz 18*, Wiese 3*)

Nehra was brought back into the attack. His full delivery was smashed straight back over him by DK. However, the experienced Nehra sent the right-hander back into the hut on the very next ball. The full-toss from the left-hander was spooned by DK into the hands of Mohit at long-on, handing Nehra his third wicket of the match.

Karthik c Sharma b Nehra 28 (26b)


Over 16 | Score 103/4 (Karthik 24*, Sarfaraz 16*)

Ravindra Jadeja came on to bowl. As soon as Sarfaraz came on strike, the youngster went after the spinner to pick up two consecutive fours. Karthik and Sarfaraz have been excellent at picking singles and doubles, something that was missing till Gayle was at the crease.


Over 15 | Score 90/4 (Karthik 23*, Sarfaraz 4*)

Pawan Negi was brought into the attack. With the ball turning, the spinner bowled an impressive first over. Dhoni waited for Gayle's dismissal to bring on his premier left-arm spinner.


Over 14 | Score 86/4 (Karthik 22*, Sarfaraz 1*)

Raina continued. Gayle went after the offie, clobbering him for back-to-back sixes. Raina got his revenge on the very next ball, as the left-hander top-edged the ball with the bowler completing a good catch.

Gayle c & b Raina 41 (43b)


Over 13 | Score 67/3 (Gayle 29*, Karthik 18*)

Dwayne Bravo was brought into the attack. He got off to a great start, conceding only 2 runs. The RCB dugout is grim, as the Ranchi crowd is ecstatic with CSK's performance.


Over 12 | Score 65/3 (Gayle 28*, Karthik 18*)

Raina continued. Finally Karthik decided to up the ante as he went after the offie. The wicketkeeper-batsman hit back-to-back boundaries off Raina to get a move on.


Over 11 | Score 52/3 (Gayle 26*, Karthik 7*)

Mohit continued. Gayle was very quiet once again, happily taking singles. The pacer's figures read 3-0-0-15. Interestingly Bravo, Jadeja and Negi are yet to bowl.


Over 10 | Score 46/3 (Gayle 23*, Karthik 5*)

Suresh Raina was brought into the attack by MS Dhoni. Once again the batsmen failed to make it a productive over for RCB. Gayle needs to get going now before its too late.


Over 9 | Score 41/3 (Gayle 21*, Karthik 3*)

Mohit continued. The Haryana pacer gave away just 3 singles off his 2nd over. Both the batsmen are finding it extremely hard to rotate strike against this fired up CSK bowling attack. The umpire signaled for a strategic time-out after the completion of 9 overs.


Over 8 | Score 38/3 (Gayle 19*, Karthik 2*)

Ashwin continued. The off-spinner was finally rewarded for his excellent performance with the wicket of Mandeep. The right-hander's sweep shot had Hussey running in from deep backward square leg and completing a superb diving catch. Ashwin competed his quota of four overs with figures of 4-0-13-1.

Mandeep Singh c Hussey b Ashwin 4 (7b)


Ashish Nehra's performance has attracted the attention of his good friend.


Over 7 | Score 36/2 (Gayle 19*, Mandeep 4*)

Mohit Sharma was introduced into the attack. After bowling well a tight line, the pacer's delivery strayed on Gayle's pads and was neatly tucked down to fine leg for a four. The West Indian used the pace on the ball to pick up an easy boundary on that occasion.


Over 6 | Score 29/2 (Gayle 12*, Mandeep 3*)

Ashwin continued. The off-spinner kept the pressure on the RCB batsmen, conceding just 4 runs off his third. Ashwin's bowling figures read: 3-0-11-0.


Over 5 | Score 25/2 (Gayle 12*)

Nehra continued. The veteran rocked the RCB innings in a a matter of 6 balls. First, Kohli flicked a deivery off his hips straight into the hands of Mohit Sharma at short fine leg. The left-arm pacer's inswinger then had AB de Villiers trapped lbw, with the ball hitting the back pad of the South African.

AB de Villiers lbw b Nehra 1 (3b) 

Kohli c Sharma b Nehra 12 (9b)


Over 4 | Score 23/0 (Gayle 11*, Kohli 12*)

Ashwin continued. The off-spinner was brilliant as he conceded just 2 runs in his 2nd over. Gayle looked vulnerable against Ashwin and that possibly gives an indication of the surface here in Ranchi.


Over 3 | Score 21/0 (Gayle 10*, Kohli 11*)

Nehra continued. Virat Kohli pulled the ball on the front foot for a four to the long-on boundary. The RCB skipper then stepped out and hit the pacer straight back over his head for a six. With that, Kohli went passed 500 runs in this edition of the IPL.


Over 2 | Score 11/0 (Gayle 10*, Kohli 1*)

Ravichandran Ashwin was introduced into the attack by MS Dhoni. Kohli got off the mark with a single down to long-on. Gayle made sure it was another good over for RCB by sweeping the off-spinner to the right of short fine leg for a four. 


Over 1 | Score 6/0 (Gayle 6*, Kohli 0*)

Ashish Nehra took the new ball for CSK, with Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle opening the bowling for RCB. The left-hander wasted no time in opening his account by hitting the pacer for a six on the second ball of the over. The experienced Nehra made a good comeback by bowling four consecutive dot balls to Gayle. 


Most experts felt it was a good toss to win for CSK.


Toss and team news

CSK won the toss and opted to field first. No changes to the team have been made by either side.

CSK XI: D Smith, M Hussey, F du Plessis, S Raina, MS Dhoni, D Bravo, R Jadeja, P Negi, R Ashwin, M Sharma, A Nehra

RCB XI: C Gayle, V Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, D Karthik, S Khan, D Wiese, M Starc, H Patel, Y Chahal, S Aravind


A glimpse of 'Mahi Mania' in Ranchi.


Match Officials

Umpires: Anil Chaudhary (Ind), Chris Gaffaney (NZ)

Third Umpire: Chettithody Shamsuddin (Ind)

Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama (SL)


Match preview

The second qualifier promises to be a mouth-watering contest as both CSK and RCB will play out of their skin to secure their place in the all-important summit clash on Sunday.

The match will be a battle of leadership skills between India's limited overs and Test skippers as the tactics of Dhoni and Kohli will be put to test.

But just going by past record, CSK will definitely start as favourites against RCB.

Also see: IPL 2015 Full Coverage

On both the occasions the two teams met earlier in this edition of IPL, CSK prevailed over RCB. Dhoni's men defeated RCB by 27 and 24 runs, respectively in the league stages of the tournament.

But it is present form and not records that wins one matches and RCB have a slight edge over CSK on this front.

CSK's morale got a beating in the first qualifier where they lost by 25 runs to Mumbai Indians but the former champions hardly have any time to ponder on that loss and need to get their acts together quickly if they wish to enter the final of the Twenty20 tournament for a record sixth time.

CSK are the most successful team in the history of IPL, having won the title twice in succession (2010 and 2011) and entering the summit clash five times so far.

But it would be easier said than done for CSK to upstage RCB and the Dhoni-led side would need a collective effort from its batting department to give itself any chance.

Also see: IPL 2015 Photos

Their highest run scorer Brendon McCullum's departure seems to have hit the team badly as CSK's success this season mostly relied on a good start from the flamboyant Kiwi batsman.

McCullum left for national duty after the league stage and CSK felt his absence right away in the first qualifier against Mumbai Indians. Chasing a formidable 187-run target in the first qualifier, CSK fell short by 25 as they were bowled out for 162

Faf du Plesis, Suresh Raina, Dwayne Bravo all got starts before giving away their wickets.

Another thing that hurt CSK badly was lack of partnerships and come tomorrow the team would bank on the likes of Dwayne Smith, McCullum's replacement Mike Hussey, Du Plessis, Raina, Dhoni and Bravo to fire in unison to give themselves any chance.

The bowling department, too, needs to pull up its socks after having been taken to task by Mumbai batsmen the other day.

Also read: RCB Team Profile

Left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin live up to their reputations but they didn't get support from other colleagues like Pawan Negi, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohit Sharma and Bravo.

A batting heavy RCB, on the other hand, would be high on confidence after the thumping win over Rajasthan Royals in the eliminator yesterday.

RCB thrashed Royals by 71 runs in a one-sided affair to set up a clash against CSK in the second qualifier.
After posting a formidable 180 for four, RCB packed up Royals for just 109 runs.

In big-hitting Chris Gayle, Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Dinesh Karthik among others, RCB have a strong batting line-up.

In fact, De Villiers (512 runs) and Gayle (450 runs) are two of the three batsmen (Shane Watson of Rajasthan Royals being the other) to have struck a century in this edition of the IPL.

RCB's batting strength can be gauged from the fact that even though Gayle and Kohli failed yesterday, still they managed to score 180.

Also read: CSK Team Profile

De Villiers (66) and Mandeep (54) came to their side's rescue by smashing quickfire half-centuries last night.

On the bowling front too, RCB has impressed all and sundry last night. Left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc has been phenomenal up front and he has been supported well by Sreenath Aravind, Harshal Patel and David Wiese.

Yuzvendra Chahal is RCB's lone warrior in the spin department and the young leggie has shown his potential with the ball, picking up 21 wickets so far, third highest in the wicket-takers list.