LISTEN: Full script of Episode 188 of Spodcast where we discuss RCB's thrilling win over CSK, Vikas Krishan's pro boxing win and more

Welcome to Spodcast, the sports update on Firstpost. Royal Challengers Bangalore won a thriller against traditional rivals Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, as they defeated the defending champions by one run off the very last ball. Chasing a target of 162 on a slow pitch, CSK needed a 26 runs off the last over bowled by Umesh Yadav. MS Dhoni, calm as ever, nearly pulled off the win, carting Umesh around the park. But Umesh bowled a slow off-cutter on the last ball that ended in a run out, giving RCB a much-needed morale-boosting win. Batting first, RCB made a mess of their scoring once again. Parthiv Patel’s attacking half-century was the only bright spot while it took a Moeen Ali cameo to drag RCB’s score past 150. Both AB De Villiers and Akshdeep Nath got starts but were dismissed cheaply. RCB scored a sub-par 161/7 as Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja claimed two wickets each for CSK. CSK’s batting faltered and they found themselves at 28/4 in the sixth over. Dale Steyn was in great form, taking two wickets at the start. He had Shane Watson caught in the slips, and then yorked Suresh Raina in spectacular fashion to leave CSK stunned. The trusted pair of Ambati Rayudu, who made a scratchy 29 from 29 balls, and Dhoni tried resurrecting the innings. They had a 55-run stand before Rayudu was removed by a fantastic delivery from Yuzvendra Chahal. In the end, one would have to say it was Dhoni who lost to RCB. With Dwayne Bravo at the non-striker’s end, Dhoni turned down a single three times in the 19th over. That perhaps proved costly, as, despite Dhoni’s three sixes and a boundary in the last over, CSK fell one run short of the target. In the end, Dhoni finished 84 not out from 48 balls. Jonny Bairstow and David Warner continued their amazing run at the top of the batting order for Sunrisers Hyderabad. They powered Hyderabad to a nine-wicket win over the struggling Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday in just 15 overs. Chasing a target of 160, Warner struck 67 off 38 balls, hitting three fours and five sixes, while Englishman Bairstow punished the hapless KKR attack with seven boundaries and four maximums in his unbeaten 80 off 43 balls. The openers looked in complete command as they went about their 131-run partnership. It was the fourth time that the opening partnership of Warner and Bairstow paved the way for a Sunrisers victory this season. The duo had guided SRH to victories against Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals in similar fashion. Meanwhile, KKR, who slumped to a fifth successive loss this season, were very sloppy in the field and ended up paying heavily for their mistakes. Bairstow was dropped twice, once on 5 by Cariappa off debutant Prithviraj’s delivery in the second over and then again on 58 by Piyush Chawla off Sunil Narine. Their bowling was unimpressive as well, with the three spinners conceding 106 runs in their combined nine overs. In the end, it was an easy win for SRH as they won with 30 balls to spare. Earlier, young left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed grabbed three wickets in an impressive spell for Hyderabad. The 21-year-old speedster removed Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill and Chris Lynn in his different spells to keep KKR in check. Senior pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned with the figures of 2/35 while leg-spinner Rashid Khan and seamer Sandeep Sharma took a wicket apiece. Chris Lynn was the top-scorer for KKR with a dogged 47-ball 51. Rinku Singh was the other notable contributor with a 25-ball 30. Sunrisers Hyderabad ar e now in fourth place on the table, with 10 points from nine matches, while KKR remain sixth with eight points from 10 games. In boxing news, Shiva Thapa is just one win away from securing a record fourth medal at the Asian Elite Boxing Championships 2019. Thapa qualified for the 60kg quarterfinals, along with four other Indians, on the third day of the Asian Championships on Sunday.He was at his destructive best as he outpunched Kyrgyzstan’s Seitbek Uulu 4-1 to march into the quarterfinals. Asian Games gold medallist Amit Panghal made it to the last eight with a 5-0 decimation of Taipei’s Tu Po-Wei in his first continental competitive bout in the 52 kg. Panghal continued his sublime form after starting the season with a gold medal at the Strandja Cup, and will hope to record his second consecutive victory over reigning Olympic champion Hasanboy Dusmatov in a highly anticipated quarterfinal showdown. In the 69kg event, Ashish continued his scintillating run of form with a strong 4-1 win over Abdurakhman Abdurakhmanov of Kyrgyzstan in a split verdict to book his quarterfinal berth. In the women’s draw, four-time Asian Championships gold medallist Sarita Devi began her hunt for a sixth medal from this elite event in impressive fashion. The 37-year-old blanked Korea’s Gwon Sujin to storm into the quarterfinals after an RSC (Referee Stop Contest) decision in Round 3 as she was too dominant for her opponent. Former world junior champion Nikhat Zareen, who is competing in the 51kg category, was at her imperious best in her opening match against Cambodia’s Srey Pov Nao. The Telangana boxer advanced to the quarterfinals by RSC in Round 2 as her rival could not contain the flurry of punches. Staying with boxing, Vikas Krishan remained unbeaten while close friend Neeraj Goyat also notched up a victory, rounding off a fine outing for Indian boxers in the professional circuit Vikas, a Commonwealth and Asian Games gold-medallist in his amateur days, claimed a unanimous verdict against American boxer Noah Kidd in a six-round super welterweight bout at the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York. Meanwhile, in Toronto, WBC Asia welterweight title-holder Neeraj defeated Mexico’s Carlos Lopez Marmolejo via a unanimous decision in a six-round contest at the Danforth Music Hall. Vikas signed with the legendary Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions, and made an impressive professional debut in January this year- a Technical Knock Out win in the second round against Steven Andrade of the United States. Neeraj has been around for a while, and has the experience of 16 fights, 11 of them victories, two draws, and three losses. He is handled by Lee Baxter Promotions on the professional circuit. Vikas has been training in New Jersey under veteran boxing coach Wali Moses, who is also the grandfather of 2016 Olympic silver-medallist Shakur Stevenson. Vikas and Neeraj have trained together in the past and are close to each other in the circuit. Javelin thrower Annu Rani and 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable led the charge with a silver each as India won five medals on the opening day of the Asian Athletics Championships on Sunday. 26-year-old Annu, who won a bronze at the 2017 edition in Bhubaneswar, hurled the spear to a best distance of 60.22m to grab the silver. China’s Lyu Huihui won the gold with an effort of 65.83m at the Khalifa Stadium in Doha. Annu’s performance was more than 2 metres short of her national record shattering effort of 62.34m during the Federation Cup at Patiala last month, which earned her a berth in the World Championships to be held at the same venue in September-October. She said, “I was keen on doing well as I knew I had trained well for the event. I was pumped up and would have got my career best had I not thrown from far behind the line.” Avinash Sable clocked 8 minute 30.19 seconds to win a silver in men’s 3000m steeplechase, his first international medal in his maiden international competition. Speaking after the race, he said, “I just gave my everything in the last 250m. I am really happy to win my first medal for the country.” Quarter miler MP Poovamma, 5000m runner Parul Choudhary, and 10000m runner Gavit Murali Kumar bagged a bronze each on a day that saw sprint sensation Hima Das suffer a lower back spasm during the 400m event. There was no such worry for Dutee Chand as she smashed her own national record in the 100m dash to qualify for the semi-finals. The Odisha runner, however, could not touch the 11.24-second qualification mark for the World Championships.