06 May,2018 01:36 AM IST | Pune | PTI
Chennai' left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja bowls against Bangalore at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Chennai are virtually through to the T20 2018 playoffs after a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Bangalore, courtesy a superb bowling effort from the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh on Saturday.
Jadeja (3-18 in 4 overs) and Harbahajan (2-22 in 4 overs) wreaked havoc as Bangalore could only manage 127 for nine, largely due to efforts from Parthiv Patel (53 off 41 balls) and Tim Southee (36 off 26 balls).
On a tricky pitch, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (31 no off 23 balls) picked up Yuzvendra Chahal for some special treatment with three huge sixes as Chennai knocked off the required runs in only 18 overs to move to 14 points from 10 games. Another win in the next four matches will guarantee Chennai a spot as 16 points has always been a cut-off for play-off qualification. Bangalore's sloppy fielding also contributed to their downfall.
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At 80 for four in the 13th over, Chennai were in a spot of bother but Parthiv as usual was shoddy behind the stumps, dropping Dwayne Bravo (14 off 17 balls) off Murugan Ashwin.
Ashwin was also unlucky when Chahal dropped Bravo at deep extra cover as the all-rounder along with his skipper added 48 runs for the unbroken fifth wicket stand.
Earlier, Jadeja and Harbhajan choked the run flow in the middle overs apart from snaring wickets at regular intervals to peg back Bangalore. In all, Chennai bowled 54 dot balls (equivalent to nine overs), which also proved to be a key factor. Jadeja and Harbahajan conceded only 40 runs between them.
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