Royal Challengers inch closer to playoffs with Chennai romp

Yash Dayal did it again. A year after silencing the Chinnaswamy crowd by denying MS Dhoni a fairytale finish, the left-arm seamer turned executioner once more — this time holding his nerve in a cauldron of noise to bowl Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to a two-run win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a last-over thriller in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Saturday.

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With 15 required off the final over, the equation tilted dramatically after Dayal bowled a high full toss that Shivam Dube launched for six, reducing the equation to six off three balls. But the 26-year-old stayed ice-cold, nailing three perfect yorkers to keep CSK down to just four runs. Dayal finished with figures of 2 for 36 and was instantly mobbed by teammates as the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium erupted in deafening celebration.

The victory - RCB's sixth on the bounce - took them to 16 points and within touching distance of the playoffs. It also marked a historic moment: for the first time ever, RCB completed a league double over CSK in the IPL.

But the win wouldn't have been possible without Romario Shepherd's brute-force finish earlier in the evening. Walking in with RCB stuttering at 157/5 in the 18th over, Shepherd tore apart CSK’s vaunted death bowling. His 14-ball 50 - the joint second-fastest in IPL history - lifted the hosts to a daunting 213/5, their highest total at home this season.