RCB vs CSK, 49th Match at Pune, IPL, May 04 2022 - Ball by Ball Commentary

10.59 pm Did these teams really just bowl 40 overs in less than three and a half hours?! In the immortal words of Jack Buck, go crazy folks, go crazy! RCB come away with a 13-run win as they claw their way back towards playoff position and are now officially in the fourth spot if the IPL regular season ended today.

CSK captain MS Dhoni: "We did well to restrict them to 170 runs. What really let us down was the batsmanship. I feel especially when we are chasing, you know what's required on the board and what the bowlers are doing. At times you have to curb your instinct and try to see what the situation is demanding rather than just play your shot. If the batsmanship had been slightly better, maybe in the last few overs we wouldn't have needed many runs. We got off to a good start, we had wickets in hand and the wicket kept getting better. It's just that we kept losing wickets at regular intervals. If you take care of those things, chasing is more about calculation and batting first is more about instinct. As a batter in the middle, you have to decide on those things. We need to keep looking at what went wrong. It's easy to get distracted by how many points you have. It's the process that matters more than where you are positioned in the points table. If you take care of those things, then the points table will take care of itself."

RCB allrounder Glenn Maxwell: "It was a really good bowling effort. We felt there was enough tackiness in the wicket to exploit with our spinners and then for our quicks to hold their nerve at the back end with some really powerful death hitters, they did a great job to finish that game. With the way that Moeen Ali and Jadeja bowled in the first innings, it showed that the finger spinners were getting a bit of hold and getting a little bit of grip out of the surface. For me it was just about trying to pitch the ball on the stumps as much as I can and try to vary the seam angle to try and get that variable spin out of the wicket. It was helpful to have a couple of lefties out there where I was able to turn the ball away from the bat and just give us another option at the back end as well. [Bowling around the wicket to the right-handers] I think it just shuts down one side of the ground. With the Robin [Uthappa wicket], if I do that from over the stumps, it becomes more of a pull shot for him which is more of his strength. To be able to cramp him up and not give him a free swing was key at that stage. We've gone through troughs in this tournament so hopefully we can ride this momentum. Winning momentum is hard to stop and we feel like our batters are starting to hit the middle of the bat more and more. With our bowlers starting to gel, we feel like we're starting to go in the right direction. Hopefully we haven't left it too late and we can peak right towards finals and find away into that top four and do some damage in the finals."

RCB captain Faf du Plessis "We definitely needed that, just for the confidence in the group. The guys have been doing some good things behind the scenes but you have to do it out in the middle. To put up a decent total today on a wicket with a bit of challenge towards it, I think we're definitely moving in the right direction with the batting lineup and confidence the guys are getting. With the bowling department, we've been very good throughout the tournament so it was just a case of backing it up with some good runs. I thought 165 was a par score so anything above that would be nice to get. The Powerplay was probably going to be the easiest time to score because the wicket had a little bit of stop to it. They had a good start in the Powerplay, but once we got two wickets, I thought we were excellent. Energy in the field was amazing, guys diving all over the place, great catching and some good bowling as well. We're very lucky to have experience and guys who captain their own teams. It's great for me, when there's some questions to be asked that I can lean on a really good senior player group. The communication is getting better on the field now that we know each other a bit better. We just want to keep improving in the batting department. We want one of the top four to bat through and get that 70+ score because we've got enough power around that can come in. So it's just that consistency around the batting unit and keep making sure we play a positive brand of cricket and not be too defensive. [Asked about net run rate] Once you get an opportunity in a match when you can think about it, then you think about it. But it's about making sure we get the wins. If we get the wins, we'll be there or thereabouts. I never think about it too far ahead."

Harshal Patel is named Player of the Match for his 3 for 35: "I think in the first over, I was trying to bowl slower balls into the pitch but I floated a couple just under the bat and those are the ones that went to the boundary. For the last four or five games, I've been trying to concede two less boundaries in my spell but be a little more tighter with my execution and sequencing. When I look at my last four or five games, I didn't have as much impact as I did in the first half. So that's what I've been trying to correct and very happy I was able to come back the way I did. [On changing ends] To both the left-handers, we decided I would bowl wider of off stump and that allowed me to use the bigger side. So that was the rationale to changing ends. You need to be aware of what the conditions are and what the batters are trying to do and what areas they are trying to score in, and most importantly what are the deliveries you can execute and you feel confident about in that situation. So you take all these calculations in your mind and at the top of your mark, you need to be absolutely clear with your option and your field placing. As long as you have clarity at the top of your mark, you should be fine. [Asked about slower balls on different pitches] Sequencing, like I said, when people are waiting for the slower balls, how do I make sure I don't give them slower balls. So that's when my hard lengths, bouncers and yorkers come in. I have not been able to use a lot this season, especially the yorkers, but it's something I want to bring back in the second half of the IPL."

That's it for our live coverage today. On behalf of S Sudarshanan, I'm Peter Della Penna. Come back tomorrow for more live IPL action. Until then, take care!

Three more sixes brings a Super Over....

TINTIN: "My wife is supporting RR this year and I am supporting RCB. These 2 points will get my team closer to hers :)" I guess that's romantic?

31 to win off the final over....

Siddhesh: "@Vish: Bumrah not doing too bad but on pure IPL form the other 4 names you mentioned don't merit a spot in the playing 11 for India at the moment. The question is whether they will go by IPL form or not and have the courage to go with some harsh selections on big names. There are some very talented in form cricketers knocking on the doors. " It's a long time between the IPL and the World Cup. India goes to England and the West Indies before the main event in Australia. Plenty of time for some out of form players to rest and recharge rather than giving them the axe.

Gota Gohome: "@Vish, It's out of form Ausies who won the last World Cup remember? "

Vish: "Argh!! Why is everyone so out of form??? Kohli, Jadeja, Rohit, Bumrah, Pant. I'm not looking forward to the WC :(("