Ayush Mhatre's blistering 94 and Ravindra Jadeja's unbeaten 77 went in vain as Royal Challengers Bengaluru edged out Chennai Super Kings by two runs in a thrilling IPL clash on Saturday.
Chasing a target of 214, CSK finished at 211 for 5 in their 20 overs. Mhatre smashed 94 off 48 balls, hitting five sixes and nine fours, and shared a 114-run stand with Jadeja, who remained unbeaten on 77 off 45 balls with eight fours and two sixes.
The stand in just 64 balls between Mhatre and Jadeja kept Chennai Super Kings' hopes alive.
But Mhatre holed out to Krunal Pandya at deep midwicket off Lungi Ngidi for 94 off 48 balls in the 17th over.
There was more drama off the next ball as Dewald Brevis was given out lbw but when he tried to review it, he was told by umpire Nitin Menon that the clock had run out.
The 17-year-old Mhatre had earlier hammered Bhuvaneswar Kumar for 26 in the fourth over in a sequence that went: 4, 4, 4, 6, 4 and 4.
Mhatre and Shaik Rasheed added 51 for the first wicket in 4.3 overs before the latter was caught at backward point by Romario Shepherd off Krunal Pandya for 14 off 11 balls.
Sam Curran fell cheaply for five in the next over by Lungi Ngidi to leave CSK at 58/2 after six overs.
Mhatre raced to his maiden IPL fifty in 25 balls, while Jadeja got his in 29 balls.
Earlier, Romario Shepherd smashed an incredible 53 in 14 balls to lift Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 213/5.
It was the joint second fastest fifty in IPL history behind only Yashasvi Jaiswal's fifty in 13 balls for Rajasthan Royals against Kolkata Knight Riders in 2023.
After RCB got off to a blistering start, CSK fought back to rein them in to 159/5 in 18 overs. But the last two overs went for a staggering 54, with Shepherd hammering 52 of those -- one run coming off a no ball and one scored by Tim David.
Khaleel Ahmed was taken to the cleaners in the penultimate over, going for 33, while Matheesha Pathirana was slammed for 21 in the final over.
Earlier, openers Virat Kohli and Jacob Bethell had gotten Royal Challengers Bengaluru off to a flyer, adding 97 in just 9.5 overs.
Matheesha Pathirana finally removed Bethell for 55 in 33 balls when he top-edged a pull and was caught brilliantly by a diving Dewald Brevis at square leg.
That over cost just three but the runs continued to flow as Kohli reached his fifty in the next over by Ravindra Jadeja, which went for 17.
Sam Curran made the vital breakthrough, having Kohli caught by Khaleel Ahmed for 62 off 33 balls, leaving RCB at 121/2 in the 12th over.
It was Kohli's fourth successive fifty in the tournament.
The match had begun with MS Dhoni winning the toss and electing to bowl first.
Rarely had Chennai Super Kings visited Royal Challengers Bengaluru with such low stakes. Just last May at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, the fierce rivals were in a high-stakes clash for the final IPL playoff spot.
Playing XI
CSK: Shaik Rasheed, Ayush Mhatre, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, Deepak Hooda, MS Dhoni(WK/C), Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Matheesha Pathirana
RCB: Jacob Bethell, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(C), Jitesh Sharma(WK), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Romario Shepherd, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lungi Ngidi, Yash Dayal
Impact player options
RCB: Suyash Sharma, Liam Livingstone, Rasikh Dar Salam, Manoj Bhandage, Swapnil Singh
CSK: Shivam Dube, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Jamie Overton