MS Dhoni once again showed his masterclass finishing that was set up by an intimidating knock by Ambati Rayudu as CSK chased down a stiff 206-run target to bury RCB's hopes of a home win in Match 24 of IPL 2018 at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.
Dhoni's 34-ball 70 not out and Rayudu's 82 off 53 balls lifted CSK out of a hole at 74/4 to post a famous win that took them to top of the table with 10 points from five wins in six matches.
Bravo (14* off 7) hastened the finish as Dhoni hit a winning six - his seventh of the innings, along with a solitary boundary in a knock that was struck at a rate of 205.88.
Rayudu's blitz included 8 sixes and 3 fours as he kept his head while wickets fell around him before Dhoni strode into the middle to stamp his authority. The innings took Rayudu's total runs in the tournament to 283, which made him the owner of the Orange Cap as the top-scorer.
It was the Chennai duo's 101-run partnership for the fifth wicket that snatched victory from RCB, who looked in control of the match at one stage.
Shane Watson (7), Suresh Raina (11), Sam Billings (9) and Ravindra Jadeja (3) all departed in quick succession as Yuzvendra Chahal bowled a craft spell of leg-spin with figures of 2/26.
Corey Anderson, who bowled the last over of CSK innings, was the most expensive RCB bowler with figures of 0/58 in 3.4 overs. Umesh Yadav (1/23) and Pawan Negi (1/36) took one wicket each.
Earlier, South Africans AB de Villiers and Quinton de Kock`s struck breezy half-centuries to power RCB to a mammoth 205/8 after Dhoni won the toss and chose to bowl first.
De Kock (53 off 37 balls) struck a boundary and four sixes to play the perfect supporting role in the 103-run second wicket stand with De Villiers, who made 68 off 30 balls, including eight giant sixes and a half-century in just 23 balls.
RCB got off to a decent 35-run start by skipper Virat Kohli (18) and de Kock before Shardul Thakur saw the back of the Indian captain, thanks to a smart catch by Ravindra Jadeja.
De Villiers started off by clobbering Harbhajan Singh for two consecutive sixes before launching legspinner Imran Tahir out of the stadium and hitting Shardul Thakur for three consecutive hits into the stands.
Despite being overshadowed by his senior partner, De Kock brought up his half-century in style, tonking Shane Watson for a six over deep mid-wicket.
With both the RCB batsmen going hammer and tongs, CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni threw the ball to his West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, and the "Champion" responded in style by packing back de Kock with a smart catch in follow-through.
Tahir then joined the party by bagging the prized scalp of de Villiers and new man Corey Anderson (2) in the very next over to restore parity into the match.
De Villiers miscued Tahir's tossed-up delivery pitched outside off-stump for Sam Billings to complete the formalities at deep cover.
With the hosts comfortably placed at 142/4, Mandeep Singh (32 off 17) and Colin de Grandhomme (11) struck a few lusty blows towards the end, even as two run-outs and a wicket in the final over could not stop RCB from crossing the 200-run mark.
(With agency inputs)
