Young Royal Challengers Bengaluru pacer Yash Dayal held his nerves and delivered under pressure when it mattered the most for his side in the do-or-de clash against Chennai Super Kings. The left-arm paceman restricted two of the most clinical finishers in IPL history - Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja as RCB needed to defend 17 runs to pip CSK for the playoffs race. Faf du Plessis and Co. managed to produce one of the greatest comebacks in tournament history by winning 6 matches on a trot to reach the playoffs.

Dayal had an extremely tough job to do in the final over, but his skipper, Du Plessis, displayed faith in him despite having an over left of Cameron Green. With Dhoni and Jadeja in the field, the left-arm paceman felt some pressure and failed to get his line and length right on the first ball. Dhoni took full advantage of it and smashed it hard for a 110-meter maximum to make it 11 runs off 4 balls. The momentum shifted the momentum in CSK's way, but Dayal, with a slower one, got the better of Dhoni on the next ball to stun the CSK fans in the stadium.

Shardul Thakur was the new man in the middle, and Dayal decided him on the first ball, but he managed to take a single on the second ball he faced. CSK needed 10 runs on the last two balls to reach the playoffs and Dayal decided to go with a slower delivery outside off and the whole RCB team started celebrating with a ball left. The young paceman held his nerves once again to bowl a dot on the last ball to seal a playoff spot.

Kolkata Knight Riders, Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad had already qualified for the play-offs. Sent into bat, RCB posted a challenging 218 for five against CSK in their must-win. In reply, Chennai (191/7) kept losing wickets at regular intervals, but Jadeja (42*) and MS Dhoni (25) gave them hope at the last, but Dayal dented it and took RCB to the last four.

On Saturday, the hosts needed to win by at least 18 runs to book the final play-off berth and they did that in style with yet another impressive show at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

The two teams finished at 14 points but RCB sneaked into the final four on the basis of a better net run-rate.

Brief Scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 218 for 5 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 54, Virat Kohli 47; Shardul Thakur 2/61).

Chennai Super Kings: 191 for 7 in 20 overs (Rachin Ravindra 61, Ravindra Jadeja 42 not out; Yash Dayal 2/42).

Read Also: ipl match today, rajasthan royals vs kolkata knight riders, ipl 2024: head-to-head, pitch report and likely xi