Chennai Super Kings 208-5 (Faf du Plessis 71, MS Dhoni 41, Muttiah Muralitharan 3-21)
beat
Royal Challengers Bangalore 205-8 (Chris Gayle 68, Virat Kohli 57, Doug Bollinger 3-24)
by 5 wickets.

A timely onslaught of 28 runs in the 19^th over by Albie Morkel let down Royal Challengers Bangalore as Chennai Super Kings won the match 13 of IPL 2012.

Royal Challengers Bangalore hammered 205 runs for the loss of eight wickets in the metered 20 overs. Chennai Super Kings thrashed 208 runs and clinched the match on the last ball of the 20^th over by five wickets.

Faf du Plessis (Chennai Super Kings) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his aggressive 71 runs while opening the innings.

The epic encounter was played at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai, and the full stadium was thrilled with the victory of their team.

Earlier, Daniel Vettori, the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore, won the toss and preferred to bat on a wicket that looked full of runs. Mayank Agarwal and the hard hitting Chris Gayle initiated the innings and the latter was uncharacteristically quiet. Agarwal started the attack with a boundary in almost every over and accelerated by punishing Doug Bollinger for one six and a four in the fourth over. He continued the attack by punching a couple of sixes in the following over of Ravichandran Ashwin but lost his wicket in the sixth over for 45 off 26 balls with 3 sixes and 5 fours.

The first wicket fell at 53 and the batting sensation Virat Kohli joined in with Gayle. The latter came at his own in the 9^th over by hitting 20 runs to Suresh Raina with three sixes as the boundaries started flowing from the woods of the two batsmen. Gayle completed his fifty on the third ball of the 14^th over with a six over deep square leg region and contributed 109 runs hurried partnership for the second wicket in 11 overs. He was caught by Dwayne Bravo off Ravindra Jadeja for 68 from just 35 deliveries with the assistance of 6 towering sixes and 2 fours.

Virat Kohli became the lone fighter as the wickets crumbled at the other side and he was the fifth batsman who went back to the pavilion for 57 off 46 balls with 2 sixes and 5 fours. No other batsmen entered the double figures as Royal Challengers Bangalore scored 205 runs with two wickets left in 20 overs.

Doug Bollinger was the most successful bowler with three whereas Albie Morkel and Ravindra Jadeja secured two wickets each.

Chennai Super Kings opened up with Murali Vijay and Faf du Plessis as the latter was the more attacking of the two and sent the ball out of the ropes quite often. Du Plessis penalized Raju Bhatkal for 17 runs in the sixth over with two sixes and a four while assembling 56 runs for the first wicket in 6.5 overs. Vijay lost his wicket for 11 as Suresh Raina came in the centre and attacked the rival bowlers at will as du Plessis kept on consolidating at the other end.

Raina tried to accelerate the scoring but was caught at long on by Bhatkal off Muttiah Muralitharan for 23 off 14 balls with one six and 3 fours. MS Dhoni was the next batsman in and continued  the firework with Faf du Plessis and accumulated 40 runs for the third wicket as du Plessis became the third victim after an attacking innings of 71 off 46 deliveries which comprised 4 sixes and 5 fours.

Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo kept on the chase but they were lacking behind the target when the first was caught by Tillakaratne Dilshan off Zaheer Khan for 41 off 24 with 2 sixes and one four. The destination was 43 runs away with just two overs left when Albie Morkel pummelled Virat Kohli for 28 runs with the help of 3 huge sixes and 2 fours and was dismissed on the second ball of the 20^th over for 28 off mere 7 balls with 3 sixes and 2 fours.

Chennai Super Kings still required 14 runs on the last four balls as Bravo dispatched a four and six followed by a single as Jadeja hit the winning four on the last ball of the 20^th over off Vinay Kumar.

Muttiah Muralitharan was the chief wicket taker with three as Zaheer Khan and Vinay Kumar chipped in with one wicket each.

Chennai Super Kings won the much needed encounter with five wickets and accumulated two valuable points in their account.

Points for both teams at the end of the IPL 2012, match 13^th,

Chennai Super Kings  – 4 off 4 matches.

Royal Challengers Bangalore – 2 off 3 matches.