The defending champions, Chennai Super Kings, were defeated by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru with 27 runs to secure the fourth and final play-off spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
RCB rose like a phoenix and secured a playoff spot in style on Saturday night along with Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals, and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
The CSK sent RCB into bat first, posted a challenging 218 for five in their must-win match, in which skipper Faf du Plessis (54) and Virat Kohli (47) shared a crucial 78-run partnership for the opening stand in 9.4 overs, despite the match being briefly interrupted by rain at the end of the third over.
Rajat Patidar, batting at No 3, scored 41 off 23 balls and built a 71-run partnership with Cameron Green (38 not out off 17) for the second wicket, maintaining the team’s momentum.
Towards the end, Dinesh Karthik (14 off 6) and Glenn Maxwell (16 off 5) contributed quickfire cameos to lift RCB to a formidable total.
CSK needed 201 runs to qualify for the playoffs based on a better run rate, even if they lost, but they fell short, managing only 191 for 7.
Rachin Ravindra scored 61 off 37 balls, while Ravindra Jadeja and Ajinkya Rahane added 42 not out and 33 respectively.
Towards the end, the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni, possibly playing his last IPL match, scored a valiant 25 off 13 balls.
However, it was not enough, as Yash Dayal kept his cool in the final over, finishing with figures of 2/42 for RCB.
After the win, Virat Kohli became emotional, as did his wife Anushka Sharma.
Despite having reached the final three times before, RCB are still in pursuit of their first IPL title.
