A heavy drizzle in Bangalore meant a slight delay in the clash between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium BCCI
The hosts opted to bowl, and were rewarded with the early wicket of Brendon McCullum, much to the delight of Yuzvendra Chahal and his captain Virat Kohli BCCI
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Dwayne Smith, though, got off to another rapid start, smashing 39 off 29 BCCI
Suresh Raina ensured no momentum was lost after Smith's dismissal, spraying the ground with four fours and six sixes BCCI
Raina hit Chahal for three consecutive sixes in the 13th over, but was caught off the next delivery to go for a 32-ball 62 BCCI
Raina's wicket gave Royal Challengers a way back into the game. MS Dhoni scratched around for 13 before lofting straight to AB de Villiers at sweeper cover BCCI
Iqbal Abdulla collected 2 for 36, including the scalps of Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo, as the hosts' spinners frustrated Super Kings BCCI
However, Faf du Plessis made a late surge, his 33 off 18 lifting the visitors to 181 for 8 BCCI
And he wasn't done yet. Manvinder Bisla made a bright start to the chase, and it took one of <i>the</i> catches of the tournament, from du Plessis, to send him back PTI
Super Kings were at their absolute best on the field, and took a foothold on the game with wickets at regular intervals. Bravo's stunner at long-on to dismiss Dinesh Karthik reduced Royal Challengers to 61 for 3 BCCI
De Villiers' run-out for 14 did not help matters BCCI
Kohli gave the hosts some respite, top-scoring with 51, but with nobody offering him enough support at the other end, he was battling a lost cause BCCI
Smith did well to keep his balance at the boundary and take the crucial catch of Kohli BCCI
Ashish Nehra bowled an inspired spell of 4-0-10-4, his best in T20 cricket, as Super Kings cruised to a 27-run win to leave Royal Challengers rooted at the bottom of the table BCCI
