Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been postponed indefinitely and hence, fans are not able to enjoy the nail-biting encounters of the T20 encounter. In the meantime, however, we can relive some of the greatest encounters which were played in the previous editions of the tournament. In this article, we’ll revisit the high-scoring thriller which was played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in 2018. The game went right down to the wire but at the end, the eventual champions CSK came on top courtesy a blistering finish by skipper MS Dhoni. MS Dhoni to Kuldeep Yadav ‘You Haven’t Seen My Anger’, CSK Shares the Video of Chinaman Bowler Speaking about Thalla.

CSK won the toss and elected to bowl at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The decision seemed to be brilliant as skipper Virat Kohli was dismissed in the fifth over. However, the South African pair of Quinton de Kock (53) and AB de Villiers (68) took the mantle of run-scoring upon themselves and stitched up 103 runs for the second wicket. The latter was especially in the partnership as he rained four and sixes all over the park. As a result, the home side registered a mammoth score of 205 runs in the first innings.

In reply, the Men in Yellow lost opener Shane Watson (7) in the first over and Suresh Raina (11) departed soon after. The likes of Sam Billing (9) and Ravindra Jadeja (3) were also dismissed cheaply. However, the in-form opener Ambati Rayudu continued his stellar run in IPL 2018 and kept scoring runs rapidly at one end. He was joined by skipper Dhoni and since then it was one-way traffic.

The two right-handed batsmen made an absolute mockery of the opposition bowlers and scored runs all over the park. Just when, the contest looked even, Rayudu was run-out for 82. However, Dhoni continued his onslaught with Dwayne Bravo also chipping in with a couple of boundaries.

The equation finally came down to CSK needing 16 runs off the last over with left-arm pacer Corey Anderson having the ball in hand. However, the ever-cool MS Dhoni didn’t look in any pressure and he guided his side to a five-wicket victory in the fourth ball only and that too with a massive six. The talismanic wicket-keeper batsman was also adjudged Man of the Match for his knock of 70 runs off just 34 balls.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 25, 2020 12:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).