Royal Challengers Bengaluru were in a danger of getting dismissed for a below-par total but Romario Shepherd’s sensational hitting took the score to 213/5 in 20 overs. Chennai Super Kings bowlers were clinical in the middle overs but lost the plot in the last phase. Jacob Bethell and Virat Kohli, the two openers, added 97 runs in 9.5 overs but their dismissals put brakes on the scoring rate.

Virat amassed 62 runs off 33 balls, packed with 5 fours and 5 sixes. On the other hand, Jacob accumulated 55 runs off 33 deliveries, including 8 fours and 2 sixes.

Devdutt Padikkal (17 runs off 15 balls), Rajat Patidar (11 runs off 15 balls) and Jitesh Sharma (7 runs off 8 balls) were ordinary. Matheesha Pathirana, the most inconsistent CSK bowler, came back to form. He took three wickets and conceded 36 runs from four overs.

Meanwhile, Romario hit 33 runs in the 19th over, which was bowled by Khaleel Ahmed. Overall, he scored an unbeaten 53 runs off 14 balls, with the help of 6 sixes and 4 fours. His runs came at a strike rate of 378.57.

Earlier, Chennai captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bowl first. RCB suffered a big setback as Josh Hazlewood was ruled out of the contest.