IPL Results 2015: Scores and Schedule After Chennai vs. Bangalore Qualifier 2
Chennai Super Kings (140-7) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (139-8) by three wickets
Chennai Super Kings turned in a confident performance to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by three wickets Friday, booking their place in the final of the 2015 Indian Premier League. MS Dhoni’s men will play Mumbai Indians in the Eden Gardens showpiece.
A classy bowling display from Ashish Nehra, who took three wickets for 28 runs, was vital in limiting Bangalore’s batting stars, as they stumbled to 139 for eight from their 20 overs. It was a total the Super Kings chased with one ball to spare thanks to a composed 56 from Mike Hussey.
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Chennai won the toss and made the bold move of putting Bangalore in to bat first.
| Chris Gayle | c & b Suresh Raina | 41 | 43 | 95.34 | 2 | 3 |
| Virat Kohli | c Mohit Sharma b Ashish Nehra | 12 | 9 | 133.33 | 1 | 1 |
| AB de Villiers | lbw Ashish Nehra | 1 | 3 | 33.33 | 0 | 0 |
| Mandeep Singh | c Michael Hussey b Ravichandran Ashwin | 4 | 7 | 57.14 | 0 | 0 |
| Dinesh Karthik | c Mohit Sharma b Ashish Nehra | 28 | 26 | 107.69 | 4 | 0 |
| Sarfaraz Khan | c Pawan Negi b Dwayne Bravo | 31 | 21 | 147.61 | 4 | 0 |
| David Wiese | c Dwayne Bravo b Mohit Sharma | 12 | 7 | 171.42 | 0 | 1 |
| Harshal Patel | run out (MS Dhoni) | 2 | 2 | 100.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Mitchell Starc | NOT OUT | 1 | 1 | 100.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Sreenath Aravind | NOT OUT | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
| EXTRAS | (w 5, lb 2) | 7 | ||||
| TOTAL | (8 wickets; 20 overs) | 139 | ||||
| Ashish Nehra | 4 | 28 | 3 | 7.00 | 14 | |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | 4 | 13 | 1 | 3.25 | 16 | |
| Mohit Sharma | 4 | 22 | 1 | 5.50 | 10 | |
| Suresh Raina | 3 | 36 | 1 | 12.00 | 4 | |
| Dwayne Bravo | 3 | 21 | 1 | 7.00 | 8 | |
| Pawan Negi | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4.00 | 3 | |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 1 | 13 | 0 | 13.00 | 1 |
For a team that can field a top order of Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, RCB would have been confident of making some big runs in difficult conditions. But astute bowling allowed the Super Kings to make some early inroads.
It was an inspired spell from Nehra, and the fifth over of the match proved to be crucial. The veteran bowler took the wickets of Kohli and De Villiers to give Chennai an early advantage; as noted by journalist Ayaz Memon, RCB had no answer for his efforts up front:
Mandeep Singh, who was excellent the last time out against Rajasthan, was dismissed for just four in the eighth over, and Bangalore were in big trouble at 36 for three.
Gayle remained, but he wasn’t at his destructive best. Indeed, although he made 41, it took 43 balls for him to get there; Chennai would have been delighted with such an arduous scoring rate. It wasn’t until the West Indies star was actually dismissed that RCB added some vital impetus to their innings.
Dinesh Karthik also struggled for timing with his 28 from 26 balls, but Sarfaraz Khan had no such issues. He struck 31 from 21 balls for Bangalore, including four brutal blows to the boundary. India international Mohammad Kaif paid tribute to his innings:
Khan’s knock was huge in the context of the game, as RCB struggled after his dismissal. They trudged to 139 for eight from their 20 overs, and things would have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for Sarfaraz. Nonetheless, Chennai were clearly pleased with their effort coming off the field.
| Dwayne Smith | c Mitchell Starc b Sreenath Aravind | 17 | 12 | 141.66 | 3 | 0 |
| Michael Hussey | c Harshal Patel b David Wiese | 56 | 46 | 121.73 | 3 | 2 |
| Francois du Plessis | b Yuzvendra Chahal | 21 | 22 | 95.45 | 2 | 0 |
| Suresh Raina | c David Wiese b Yuzvendra Chahal | 0 | 2 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
| MS Dhoni | c Dinesh Karthik b Harshal Patel | 26 | 29 | 89.65 | 1 | 0 |
| Pawan Negi | run out (Sarfaraz Khan) | 12 | 6 | 200.00 | 0 | 1 |
| Dwayne Bravo | b Mitchell Starc | 0 | 1 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | NOT OUT | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0 |
| Ravichandran Ashwin | NOT OUT | 1 | 1 | 100.00 | 0 | 0 |
| EXTRAS | (w 3, b 3, lb 1) | 7 | ||||
| TOTAL | (7 wickets; 19.5 overs) | 140 | ||||
| Mitchell Starc | 4 | 27 | 1 | 6.75 | 7 | |
| Sreenath Aravind | 4 | 25 | 1 | 6.25 | 9 | |
| Harshal Patel | 3.5 | 26 | 1 | 6.78 | 10 | |
| David Wiese | 4 | 30 | 1 | 7.50 | 6 | |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 4 | 28 | 2 | 7.00 | 9 |
But as is often the case in these high-stakes matches, things weren’t plain sailing.
With Brendon McCullum missing from the Super Kings lineup, they would have been looking for some early impetus at the top of the order. It was scarce, initially.
Dwayne Smith (17) and Faf du Plessis (21) both failed to make the most of starts. Then, when Suresh Raina was out for a duck from just two balls, the match seemed to be swinging back in favour of Bangalore, with Chennai struggling on 61 for three.
As noted by CricBuzz, given what was at stake, things were beginning to get tense for both teams:
Encouragingly for Chennai, in Hussey and Dhoni, they now had two of the game’s greatest-ever finishers at the crease. The former took a while to get going but kept things ticking over for the Super Kings, and he upped the ante as he approached 50.
The veteran Aussie got Chennai into a superb position, but when he was dismissed for 56, the Super Kings still needed 32 from 21 balls. But Dhoni helped steer his men home with an unbeaten 26, and although they won with just one ball to spare, Chennai always looked to have too much for RCB.
| Sunday, May 24 | 3:30 p.m. | Chennai Super Kings v Mumbai Indians |
This match wasn’t as free-flowing as so many we have enjoyed in the IPL this season, but for Chennai, getting over the line in such a nervous affair will be crucial as they gear up for the final. There were some signs of fatigue from the Super Kings, however, and it’ll be intriguing to see how they fare against a replenished Mumbai team Sunday.
Bangalore can be proud of how they performed in this tournament, but it’s the end of the road for them after this defeat. While they have entertained throughout the competition, ultimately, they’ve been too reliant on individual displays to win matches. That’s something that caught up with them in this one.
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