Yash Dayal exorcises ghosts of 2023 while sealing RCB's passage into IPL playoffs

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) continued their fairytale run in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) with a 27-run victory over Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.

After miraculously keeping their campaign alive with five consecutive victories, RCB needed to defeat CSK by 18 or more runs if they were to surpass the defending champions on Net Run Rate (NRR), given both teams would then finish level on 14 points alongside Delhi Capitals (DC) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

Bengaluru boosted their chances of finishing on the winning side after posting a challenging 218/5 thanks to captain Faf du Plessis ’ half-century as well as valuable contributions from Virat Kohli (47), Rajat Patidar (41) and Cameron Green (38 not out).

Chennai then lost the wickets of captain Ruturaj Gaikwad and Daryl Mitchell inside the powerplay, the former departing on the first delivery of the chase, and were staring at a certain defeat after being reduced to 129/6. However, a late fightback from Ravindra Jadeja and former captain MS Dhoni kept them afloat and ensured they took the fight till the final over.

Though the target of 219 was slowly slipping out of their grasp, Jadeja and Dhoni’s attention was fixed on getting Chennai past 200 by any means, which would’ve secured their top-four finish. And by plundering 46 runs between overs 17 and 19, Jadeja and Dhoni had tilted the balance of the game slightly in their favour even if they needed 17 to qualify off six balls ahead of the final over.

Left-arm pacer Yash Dayal was tasked with the job of bowling the final over and preserving RCB’s campaign. What added to the pressure for Dayal was the fact that he was carrying the weight of expectations not just of the RCB dugout but of thousands of red-clad supporters at their home ground and millions glued to their TV sets or smartphones and other devices.

And facing him was none other than ‘Thala’, one of the most decorated finishers in the history of the sport whose ability to stay calm in the toughest of situations had earned him the nickname ‘Captain Cool’.

In the end, it was Dayal who displayed nerves of steel as he conceded just seven runs while getting the prized wicket of Dhoni to bowl his team to victory and power them into the playoffs . And what made the feat over even more impressive was the fact that he managed to maintain his composure despite getting hit for a six.

Here’s a ball-by-ball recap of the final over:

Ball One: SIX!

Dayal bowls a juicy full toss to Dhoni, and the veteran wicketkeeper-batter gleefully accepts the gift by smashing it onto the Chinnaswamy roof beyond fine leg for a monster 110-metre hit, forcing the umpires to bring out a new ball. CSK need 11 off 5 to qualify.

Ball Two: OUT!

The change of ball appeared to have benefited the bowler as he followed up with a slower delivery. Dhoni swings his blade and gets a thick top-edge. The ball goes high up in the air, but doesn’t travel the distance needed to clear the boundary rope, resulting in a simple catch for Swapnil Singh at deep square leg. Huge moment in the game, with CSK now needing 11 to qualify off 4 with a set batter gone.

Ball Three: Dot.

Shardul Thakur arrives his crease, and immediately swings his bat. Fails to connect. It was another slower delivery from the left-arm pacer, but one that was pitched slightly shorter. Had it been a tad fuller, Thakur might have connected and dispatched it towards deep midwicket for a single or a double.

Ball Four: Single.

Thakur connects this time, getting a leading edge that nearly results in a catch for short third man. Gets enough time to scamper for a single.

Ball Five: Dot.

Jadeja was on strike, needing 10 to win off 2 deliveries — exactly the situation he was in during last year’s final. Back then, he had managed to smash Mohit Sharma for a six and a four to seal CSK’s fifth title.

This time, however, Chennai’s title defence was over even with a delivery left as Jadeja failed to connect while swinging his bat at a full but slow delivery from Dayal that was bowled well outside off, but within the tramline. Dayal and his teammates began to celebrate even before the last ball was bowled.

Ball Six: Dot.

All Dayal had to do was bowl a legal ball, which he did by firing a short-of-length delivery to Jadeja. The all-rounder swung his bat one last time, only to miss, and didn’t bother running for a single as the Chinnaswamy erupted in celebrations, both on the ground as well as in the stands.

𝐑𝐂𝐁 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐘𝐎𝐅𝐅𝐒 ❤️#TATAIPL #RCBvCSK #IPLonJioCinema pic.twitter.com/JUC3BNqu67

— JioCinema (@JioCinema) May 18, 2024

Later during the presentation ceremony, RCB captain Faf du Plessis “dedicated” his Player of the Match award to Dayal.

“We were defending 175, it got a bit close, at one stage, with MS there, I thought, oh dear, he has done it so many times. The way we bowled with the wet ball was unbelievable, we tried to change it. I dedicate this Man of the Match to Yash Dayal. The way he bowled was unbelievable. For a man who’s fairly new, he deserves it,” the South African said after the game.

It wasn’t just the Royal Challengers who had completed a miraculous comeback on Saturday evening, becoming the final team to qualify with a top-four finish when they appeared to be the first to be knocked out at one point. It was also redemption of sorts for Dayal, whose credentials as a bowler who could withstand the pressure of bowling the death overs in the batting-dominated T20 format had taken a serious beating last year.

Instagram story by Rinku Singh for YASH DHAYAL. 👏 pic.twitter.com/tUFBlJvr0n

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 18, 2024

It was, after all, only last year that Dayal had been smashed for five consecutive sixes by Uttar Pradesh teammate Rinku Singh. The pacer was representing the Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans back then and was tasked with defending 29 runs from the final over, which on paper would’ve been a safe equation for a bowler regardless of the batter at the crease.

Rinku ended up powering the Kolkata Knight Riders to dramatic three-wicket victory at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium as a result of the onslaught, becoming an overnight star in the process. He would end up becoming one of the top performers that season, and would get fast-tracked into the Indian T20I side.

Dayal, on the other hand, had been subjected to incessant trolling online and had become a villain of sorts in the eyes of many a fan, and would get released by the Titans later that year. The Royal Challengers would later pick him in the auction for Rs 5 crore after some intense bidding, which initially would’ve led to some raised eyebrows but appeared completely justified after the events of Match 68.

On Saturday, Dayal didn’t just make the perfect recovery after getting struck for a six on the first delivery, he managed to stop Dhoni, of all batters, in his tracks before denying Jadeja an encore of the 2023 final.

It was only fitting that Rinku was among those applauding Dayal’s final-over heroics. “God’s plan baby,” wrote the left-handed batter in a story on Instagram sharing a post from RCB’s official account celebrating the pacer’s 50th T20 wicket, adding a salute emoji at the end.