How Did CSK Manage To Beat An In-Form RCB?

Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore - Tactical Review

Chennai Super Kings, on Tuesday, registered their first win of the season after four straight losses. The win came against a fair-to-say in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore, who only suffered their second loss of the season in five matches. 

Despite being written off with their below-par performances in the previous four games, CSK defeated RCB in a dominant fashion and not in a close contest, so to speak. But how did they manage to win? What went right for CSK? or What went wrong for RCB? Let's find out. 

1) RCB Start Well 

After winning the toss, RCB opted to bowl. The bowlers began well in the powerplay, as CSK only managed 35 runs and lost Ruturaj Gaikwad, again. Mohammad Siraj didn't try to bowl too many cutters and tried to make use of swing on offer. Siraj was bowled three overs inside the powerplay, giving away only 19. 

Siraj bowling three in the powerplay left him with only over. In the absence of the fourth pacer (Harshal Patel), RCB could have tried to stop Siraj after the second and bowl him in the middle overs, where Harshal generally bowls. 

2) RCB Introduce Spin 

Glenn Maxwell was introduced straightaway after the powerplay. It was a gamble bowling Maxwell (an off-spinner) against Moeen Ali and Robin Uthappa. Luckily, Moeen got runout in the seventh over itself. 

CSK continued with the lefty/righty combo and sent in Shivam Dube. With Robin Uthappa still not finding his rhythm, Dube tried to take down that attack from the other end. It worked. 

RCB gave Maxwell another over (ninth) and Dube struck him for a six. Faf du Plessis continued to try and sneak in spin overs with Shahbaz Ahmed bowling the 10th. Hasaranga was finally introduced in the 11th over and got hit for 13 runs. Shahbaz's 12th over again went for 13 and to make things worse, Maxwell was introduced back into the attack. His 13th over went for 19 runs as Uthappa finally moved on after Dube gave CSK momentum. 

Hasaranga's 14th again went for 13 runs. In total, Bangalore kept bowling spinners from 9-14 overs and went for 71 runs. The lack of another pacer and that too of the level of Harshal Patel was badly missed by RCB but the bowler management could have been better. 

With the score reading 118/2 in 14 overs, Dube and Uthappa decided to take on the rest of the bowlers as pacers were finally brought back by RCB. 

Akash Deep kept losing his line and length and got hit for 39 runs in his next two overs. Siraj went for 18, and Josh Hazlewood for 27. 

Hasaranga was given 19th over to bowl. Despite him taking two wickets, he went for 14 runs. The leg-spinner could've been easily introduced earlier and he would've bowled all his four overs, but the star leggie only bowled three as Maxwell was given three overs to bowl earlier. CSK made full use of RCB's faulty bowling and smacked 215 - IPL 2022's highest total so far. 

3) RCB's Big Task 

With ball gripping, Moeen Ali and Maheesh Theekshana were bowled four overs inside the powerplay. The duo combined 25 runs and two wickets in those four overs. RCB lost a total of three wickets inside powerplay - all top three batters. 

With a mammoth total to chase, RCB had to go against all the bowlers. Theekshana finger spun RCB batters out of the game with his four wickets. He used all of his variations and RCB didn't read him. Ravindra Jadeja got the all-important of Maxwell to push RCB out of the game. 

4) RCB Keep Believing 

Suyash Prabhudessai and Shahbaz Ahmed added 60 in 33 balls in the middle overs phase to keep RCB's hopes alive. The partnership also meant Dinesh Karthik's entry point kept on getting delayed. 

Karthik arrived in the 13th over and smacked 34 in 14 balls but RCB kept losing wickets at the other end. Despite DK giving a bit of a scare, CSK were in control of the game, and RCB were kept 23 runs away from the total.