Pune, May 5 (IANS): Chennai Super Kings (CSK) made a heavy weather of a small total before captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni did his famous finishing act to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by six wickets with two overs to spare and climb to the top of the Indian Premier League (IPL) table here on Saturday. RCB, on the other hand, are virtually out of the race for the play-offs. They are currently on six points and have to win all their five remaining matches, which is a big ask for the off-colour unit. CSK are sitting pretty with 14 points from 10 matches. They have won seven of those matches while losing three. Having elected to field first on winning the toss, CSK restricted the visitors to 127/9 in their 20 overs. CSK were boosted by an excellent display by the hitherto off-colour Ravindra Jadeja who roared back to form with figures of 3/18. Ambati Rayudu laid the foundation of a successful chase with 32 runs off 25 balls after the other opener Shane Watson was bowled by Umesh Yadav in the third over. Rayudu and Suresh Raina tried to bring the chase back on track with a 44-run stand before Yadav struck again, removing Raina in the ninth over. Rayudu fell a couple of overs later when he attempted an expansive shot off Murugan Ashwin, only to hand an easy top edge to Mohammed Siraj at short third man. However, Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo batted slowly but sensibly to ensure victory for the hosts without any further loss of wickets. Earlier, disciplined bowling by CSK and a few reckless shots by the RCB batsmen saw the visitors being restricted to a low total. The highlight of the RCB batting effort was a half-century from opener Parthiv Patel, who was their highest scorer with 53 runs off 41 balls. The only other RCB batsman to reach double figures was tailender Tim Southee who remained unbeaten on 36 off 26 balls. RCB skipper Virat Kohli made a bold move by promoting himself up the order coming out to bat at the one-down slot. But his move did not pay off as Ravindra Jadeja struck a big blow with his first ball of the match when he bowled the RCB skipper with a delivery that turned in sharply after pitching. CSK struck another big blow in the very next over when the dangerous AB De Villiers was stumped off Harbhajan Singh's bowling. RCB continued to lose wickets at regular intervals as CSK restricted them to a low total. Brief scores:
RCB: 127/9 in 20 overs (Parthiv Patel 53; Tim Southee 36 not out; Ravindra Jadeja 3/18) CSK: 128/4 in 18 overs (Ambati Rayudu 32, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 31 not out)
