Shepherd's blazing knock helps RCB steal 2-run win

In a match of twists and turns, CSK almost chase down target of 214 before home team snatch a victory at the end

- Sanjjeev K Samyal

MUMBAI: After 18 overs, Royal Challengers Bengaluru's innings hadn't picked up the momentum as they had hoped, having reached 159/5 in their IPL game against Chennai Super Kings at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. In the 15th over, they had scored just four, seven in the 16th and three in 17th and five in the 18th. After an excellent start of 97 in 9.5 overs provided by their talismanic batter Virat Kohli and the young, enterprising left-hander Jacob Bethell, RCB's momentum had been halted. Getting to 200 looked tough. And if they had to get to it, all eyes were on the in-form Tim David to do the heavy lifting. His batting partner ahead of the 19th over, Romario Shepherd, had not faced a ball in the tournament though his team had won all three matches he played.

But to the delight of the packed Bengaluru crowd, Shepherd stole the spotlight in spectacular fashion. In the end, it was vital in RCB's two-run win to go atop the IPL points table. In a whirlwind knock, the 30-year-old Guyanese all-rounder smashed an unbeaten 53 off just 14 balls to lift RCB to an imposing total of 213/5.