Dayal, who was remembered for his maligned over that saw Rinku Singh hit him for five consecutive sixes to win an improbable game last season, before tonight, rose to the occasion, bowling a perfect final over against Chennai Super Kings, knocking the defending champions out of the knockouts race.
The win for RCB was their sixth on the trot as they successfully defended 218 to secure a place in the playoffs, beating CSK by 27 runs.
CSK, who needed to score 201 to qualify for the playoffs, ended up scoring 191 for 7 as Dayal gave away just 7 runs in the final over of the thriller.
Here’s how Yash Dayal’s final over turned out as he took RCB into the playoffs.
Ball 1 – Yash Dayal to MS Dhoni – SIX! As Dayal bowled a low full-toss on leg-stump, Dhoni went for a full-fledged swing and middled it to perfection. It turned out to be a mighty strike as the ball went over the fine-leg roof.
Ball 2 – Yash Dayal to MS Dhoni – OUT! After getting hit for a maximum first ball by the legend, Dayal hit back in style, getting rid of Dhoni second ball of the over. As Dayal bowled a back of the hand slower ball on the stumps, Dhoni swiped it and unfortunately only managed a top-edge. Swapnil Singh, at deep backward square-leg, got under the ball and then grabbed the catch with ease.
Ball 3 – Yash Dayal to Shardul Thakur – Dot ball! It was another back of the hand slower from Dayal and he dug it in this time. Shardul went for the hoick across and missed the ball completely. Keeper Dinesh Karthik too was alert as he denied the CSK batters a bye.
Ball 4 – Yash Dayal to Shardul Thakur – 1 run! With 11 needed off the last 3 ball, Dayal fired in another back of the hand slower ball on the stumps. As Shardul went for a slog and only managed an outside edge to third-man, he and Ravindra Jadeja managed a single off the fourth ball of the over.
Ball 5 – Yash Dayal to Ravindra Jadeja – Dot ball! With 10 needed off 2 balls, Dayal, once again relied on his slower ball and again executed to perfection, this time beating Jadeja and producing a match-winning dot ball. As Dayal fired in a back of the hand slower ball outside off, Jadeja missed the swing and the ball was inside the tramline. The dot ball meant CSK needed an almost impossible 100 off the last ball to qualify for the playoffs.
Ball 6 – Yash Dayal to Ravindra Jadeja – Dot ball! On the last ball, Dayal was just needed to bowl a legal ball to take RCB to playoffs. But the left-arm pacer did one better, bowling another dot ball to wrap up the game in style. As Jadeja swung on the final ball, Dayal slower ball once again deceived him as CSK were given the knocked out blow.
