Bengaluru: Yash Dayal’s last-over heroics against Chennai Super Kings was labelled as a redemption act. A year after being smashed for five straight sixes in a similar situation for Gujarat Titans, which led to him losing a spot in the playing XI, falling ill and later being released by the franchise, Dayal rose from the ashes to deny MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in the final over of the IPL 2024 clash at the Chinnaswamy on Saturday and guide RCB to a win that sealed their playoffs berth. But a replay revealed that it was Virat Kohli who strategised Dayal’s comeback in the final over.
Captain Faf du Plessis entrusted Dayal with the last over with the plan to bowl a yorker to Dhoni, who was on strike. But the left-armer erred in his execution and dished out a low full toss which was punished high over fine leg for a monstrous 110-metre six. The stunning shot left CSK 11 runs away from making the playoffs.
Kohli, who was stationed near the boundary ropes, quickly ran towards a nervy Dayal and advised him to bowl the slower deliveries which he specialises in. “Don’t bowler the yorker, go for the slower deliveries (yorker nahi, slower ball daal),” Kohli could be seen mouthing as Dayal looked on.
Dayal bowled a back-of-the-hand slower delivery and Dhoni rushed into the pull shot, resulting in his dismissal. The ball took the bottom edge of the bat and ballooned towards the fielder at deep midwicket leaving Dhoni absolutely infuriated as he smashed his bat with his hand before walking towards the dugout in disappointment.
Dayal stuck to the plan and troubled Shardul Thakur and Jadeja in the remaining four balls as the pair managed just one run. RCB hence continued their fairytale streak of six straight wins to make the playoffs as the fourth-placed side.
After the match, Du Plessis dedicated his Player of the Match award to Dayal for his “unbelievable” show in the final over.
He said: “We were defending 175, it got a bit close, at one stage, with MS there, I thought, oh dear, he has done it so many times. The way we bowled with the wet ball was unbelievable, we tried to change it. I dedicate this Man of the Match to Yash Dayal. The way he bowled was unbelievable. For a man who’s fairly new, he deserves it.”
