Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Photo: Sportzpics
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made their fans dream of a maiden IPL trophy with a stunning win over Chennai Super Kings in Match 68 of the Indian Premier League. RCB’s 27-run win was their sixth win on the trot after losing seven of their first eight matches.
RCB qualified for the play-offs as the fourth-placed team on the IPL 2024 points table, but the road to this qualification faced the test of CSK in a must-win match.
With CSK needing to score 201 runs to qualify for the play-offs, Bengaluru captain Faf du Plessis revealed the reason behind their success against five-time champions CSK in a must-win match.
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 18, 2024
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RCB have become the first team ever to qualify for the Play Offs, after recording just one win in the first seven matches of a season.
RCB becomes the first team to record six consecutive wins and six consecutive defeats each in the same season.
“We defended 175 (and neither 201 nor 218)!” said du Plessis in the post-match presentation.
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 18, 2024
du Plessis, who was named player of the match, dedicated the award to Yash Dayal. The RCB bowlers defended 17 runs to prevent CSK from qualifying for the play-offs. He was hit for a six on the first ball but he conceded just one run off the remaining five deliveries and even took the wicket of MS Dhoni.
“We tried to change the ball tonight. I dedicate the Man of the Match (award) to Yash Dayal! I told him that pace on this wicket is the best option,” the RCB captain said.
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 18, 2024
du Plessis thanked their fans for their support even as they lost six games on the trot at the start of the tournament.
“It’s crazy; even when we didn’t win, we had the fans here. It was set up perfectly – CSK vs RCB! Unbelievable. Thank you everyone for their support. It’s very important that you enjoy this. Your first goal in the IPL is try to get the knockouts,” concluded Faf.
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 18, 2024
RCB IPL 2024 Playoffs Prediction
With Royal Challengers on a six-match winning streak, Faf du Plessis must win their next three matches – Eliminator, Qualifier 2 and final – to clinch their maiden IPL title.
In 2014, KKR won nine matches on the trot and lifted the IPL trophy
First print: May 19, 2024 | 12:59 pm IST