Ashish Nehra took three for 28 © IANS
Ravichandran Ashwin and Ashish Nehra led the rout, as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) restricted Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to a manageable 139 for eight in Qualifier 2 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 at Ranchi on Friday. Ashwin was at his skilful best, tying down Chris Gayle with a spell of one for 14 in four overs. Live Scorecard: Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
At the other end, Ashish Nehra continued his love for RCB, snaring two massive wickets in his first three overs and coming back to take a third later on. He finished with three for 28 in his four overs, accounting for Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in the same over, and Dinesh Karthik later on. Live Updates: Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
Gayle and Kohli opened as usual, and started off sedately. They put on 23 in four overs before Nehra struck with the first ball of the fifth, getting Kohli to play one right into the hands of Mohit Sharma at fine leg. Five balls later, de Villiers was struck in line though replays suggested that the ball had pitched just on leg. RCB were now 25 for two in five overs. IPL 2015 Highest run-scorer: List of best batsmen in IPL 8
Mandeep Singh came in at No. 4, but was unable to replicate the innings he produced in the Eliminator. He was Ashwin’s sole wicket, but the credit ought to go to Michael Hussey. Mandeep went for a sweep, but was caught by a diving Hussey at backward square. Dinesh Karthik and Gayle then put on the only substantial stand for RCB. IPL 2015 Highest wicket-taker: List of best bowlers in IPL 8
The duo added 44 before Gayle’s resistance came to and end. He hit Suresh Raina for two sixes before top-edging another that was caught by the bowler. Sarfaraz Khan then came in to join Karthik, but their alliance was a brief one. Karthik became Nehra’s third wicket, as RCB never built momentum. IPL 2015 Most 6s and 4s: List of most dangerous batsmen in IPL 8
David Wiese hit a big six but did little apart from that, holing out to Dwayne Bravo off Mohit Sharma. Wiese had earlier been dropped off Bravo’s bowling. Sarfaraz kept fighting, scoring 31 off 21 balls, but in the end there was far too much for him to do, as CSK restricted RCB to a chaseable total. Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015: Complete coverage
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 139 for 8 in 20 overs (Chris Gayle 41; Ashish Nehra 3 for 28) vs Chennai Super Kings.
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek who loves cricket more than cricketers. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)