After finishing the Chennai Super Kings in sensational style with the bat, Ravindra Jadeja returned to haunt the Virat Kohli led Royal Challengers Bangalore side, single-handedly handing them a 69-run defeat in Mumbai.
Jadeja smashed four consecutive sixes of Harshal Patel in the final over, and hit 5 in the over, after which he dismissed Washington Sundar, AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell to derail RCB’s chase of 192, handing them their first defeat in 5 games in IPL 2021.
Gaikwad and Faf matched each other shot for shot in the powerplay, getting the team to 51/0 after 6 overs. Gaikwad was particularly harsh on Navdeep Saini in his first over, taking 14 off it before clobbering Yuzvendra Chahal for a monster six in the next over.
Gaikwad and Faf put on 73 in 9 overs before the Indian batter was well caught by the big Kyle Jamieson off Chahal at deep fine leg, as he looked to clear the ropes. Gaikwad, who scored 33 off 25 deliveries, before Suresh Raina joined the former South African captain.
Raina, who hit 3 sixes during short stay, hoisted Chahal into the stands to get going as he looked to keep the tempo up.
While Raina attacked from his end, Faf was more than happy to hand over strike and kept milking the bowling en route a well made half century.
Right after Faf reached 50, Raina, who was on 24 and looking good, a good slower one from Harshal Patel saw him caught out at deep midwicket by Devdutt Padikkal. Off the next delivery, Faf walked back, dismissed for 50 trying to slog. Ravindra Jadeja watchfully played out the hat-trick ball.
CSK, who were looking to go through the gears before the final phase of the innings, lost their two set batters and were dealt a big blow in the hunt for a big total with the score at 111/3 after 14 overs.
Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja needed to finish well to put on a good total and the duo started off well, scoring 23 off the next two. The quick Jadeja pushed for the twos and that caused Rayudu a little discomfort, which caused him to slow down and eventually lose his wicket for 14 off 7 deliveries as Harshal picked his third wicket. The duo put on 31 runs before MS Dhoni walked in.
While Dhoni struggled to get his timing going, Jadeja was having no such problem. The all-rounder kept scoring at good pace till the final over which is when he exploded with five sixes, a boundary and a two to round off the innings with a 37-run over, the most expensive in the IPL so far.
Chennai posted 191/4 from their 20 overs. Jadeja finished unbeaten on 62, hitting 4 fours and 5 sixes during his 28-ball stay.
Jadeja would continue to play a big part in the game even though RCB with Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal started off briskly.
Padikkal, who scored a century in the last game, took off where he had left and was going at the rate of knots while the captain played second fiddle. With RCB hurtling along at 44 midway through the powerplay, Kohli departed when he was caught behind by Dhoni off Sam Curran for 8.
Padikkal continued in his merry ways at the other end, scoring 34 off 15 deliveries, before being caught at short-fine leg off Shardul Thakur.
After this Jadeja decided to take charge once again with a three over spell that gave him three big wickets. The first to depart was Washington Sundar for 7 in the 7th over before he cleaned up Glenn Maxwell in the next over.
Maxwell, threatened to pose a problem for CSK but Jadeja ensured there would be none of that, going through the gates for 22.
In his third over, Jadeja knocked over the dangerous AB de Villiers for 4, leaving RCB reeling at 83/6.
Jadeja, who finished with figures of 3/13, also ran out Dan Christian for 1, all but ensuring RCB would not win a fifth in a row.
While Jadeja was running through the RCB batting at one end, Imran Tahir picked up the wickets of Harshal Patel and Navdeep Saini with the score on 94/8.
Kylie Jamieson added 16 before being run out by Imran Tahir before Yuzvendra Chahal and Mohammed Siraj spent some time out in the middle, frustrating the CSK bowlers and adding a few runs to the total too. They put on 19 together as RCB lost by 69 runs.
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