On this day, March 18, Royal Challengers Bengaluru won the Southern derby against Chennai Super Kings. It was a memorable game at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium for the RCB fans as the home side got the better of the Men in Yellow. It was RCB who were batting first and they had a slow start at the top of the order. Royal Challengers lost both their openers Rahul Dravid and Mark Boucher cheaply. They were 59/2 at the end of the eight over mark and it was a real struggle for the batters on a surface that looked a bit two paced.
Robin Uthappa came in at Number 4 and started really positively. He was the only batter who could play at a very high strike rate and he took the attack to the bowlers. Robin Uthappa went past half century and looked in sublime touch. Meanwhile the other batters struggled as Kallis and Eoin Morgan fell cheaply. Robin Uthappa accelerated in the death overs and finished with an unbeaten 68 runs of just 38 balls.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru finished with a total of 171/5 and they almost scored more than 100 runs in the last ten overs largely due to that knock by Uthappa. For Chennai Super Kings, it was Muralidharan who was the pick of the bowlers picking up three crucial wickets. It was an above par total on that surface and the game was evenly poised at the halfway stage.
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Chasing the target, Chennai Super Kings lost their opener Parthiv Patel early but Hayden managed to stitch in a partnership. The scoring rate was low as the pitch was not easy for stroke play. Chennai Super Kings were going well but Vinay Kumar came into the attack and picked up four wickets to seal the game for Royal Challengers Bengaluru as they restricted CSK to 135/7 and won the match comfortably by 36 runs. It was a very memorable day for the home crowd.
