For a little while on Friday, Josh Hazlewood held all the power and he had the good sense to use it indiscriminately. He produced two wickets and nine dots with his first 12 balls.
For a little while, a little earlier, Rajat Patidar held all the power and he had the good sense to use it indiscriminately. He gave up all of his stumps to one of India's best spin bowlers and did not care one bit. He had lined up Ravindra Jadeja. He felt in no danger whatsoever. That inside out cover drive went to the boundary like it was racing to meet an appointment.
For a little while, a little later, Virat Kohli held all the power and he had the good sense to use it indiscriminately. He was walking over to his mark at long-on and a whole host of people - many of them wearing yellow - were going crazy for him. When he looked up, waved, touched his heart and raised his hand in a thumbs up, a crowd that is famously partisan started chanting his name.
All of this happened at a ground and against a team that Royal Challengers Bengaluru have historically struggled. But by the end of the night, they conquered both the place and the opposition. They recorded the biggest win, in terms of runs, by a visiting team against Chennai Super Kings at MA Chidambaram stadium.
Fast bowlers have had to stomach all manner of evils as T20 cricket has progressed, to the point that they have been forced to admit that for their own survival they had to give up the very thing that makes them so special. Their speed. Their ego. Their gravitational pull.
The new ball, though, reminds them that they matter. And Hazlewood is so good with it. Seven of his 16 wickets at the 2023 ODI World Cup were the result of his work within the first 10 overs, including a peak performance in the semi-final where his first spell - 6-1-12-2 - left South Africa - a side that scored over 400 earlier in the tournament - at 28 for 4. By then, he was pushing through on adrenaline. At the start of this IPL, he said he was feeling fresh. In Chennai, he was pure fire. His dismissal of Ruturaj Gaikwad left CSK at 8 for 2 chasing 198. The entire ground was drowning in silence. Kohli, and one billion people, slumped the last time an Australian fast bowler did that. Here he (literally), and eight million people (figuratively), leapt on top of Hazlewood and took a piggy back ride.
The war cry that always goes up at the Chinnaswamy stadium had found its way across the border. "Arr-Cee-Bee! Arr-Cee-Bee." The enemy had breached the gates. Chepauk had fallen. And the worse was to come. When DRS revealed the spike on Deepak Hooda's edge, several pockets of RCB fans celebrated it with not screams or claps but with something deeply synonymous with the CSK fan base - whistles.
RCB have waited for 17 years to win against this team in this place and they were very aware of it.
"Yeah, it was actually at breakfast," Phil Salt, their newest member, said at the post-match press conference. "Some sort of an article came up on my phone, and it was all the things that have happened since RCB beat CSK here. [We had] a pretty light-hearted conversation. There wasn't too much in it. But yeah, it's a good win.
"To beat the champions in their home ground, and then come here, which is a very, very tough place to come and get a win, we're really happy with the fact that we're sitting two games, four points, obviously with a boost in the net run rate as well. But we're very aware of how good a side CSK are, especially at home, so we're pleased."
It is not easy to spot a captain's influence on a T20 game. But it is possible to spot what it does to their own game. In Patidar's case, the extra responsibility is bringing the best out of him. In three previous matches at Chepauk, he had made only nine runs. He made nearly six times as many from just tonight - though did have the benefit of being dropped on 17.
Patidar's presence through much of the RCB innings prevented R Ashwin and Jadeja from finishing their full quota of overs. They bowled just five, and were taken for 59 runs. The dressing room was in awe of their leader.
"I think he's brilliant in all areas, if I'm being honest with you," Salt said, "I think the batting is right up there with the best around. I've not seen anybody hit spin the way that he can. Obviously, he rode his luck a little bit tonight, but that's the game. You get that in patches.
"And then you come to his captaincy, and he's a cool head and very calm under pressure. He's got very good cricket brain. He thinks about the game very deeply. As I've already said, the way that he spun the bowlers around tonight to make sure that we're keeping the pressure on at all times. There's not much more you can ask for. There's a reason he's got a [Player] of the Match trophy as well."
RCB had done such a number on CSK at Chepauk that when the living embodiment of both this place and this team finally made his way out at No. 9, he took strike with a slip and short leg crowding him. At the end of the match, his coach felt compelled to get up close and personal with the pitch, a member of the ground staff in tow. Stephen Fleming's next stop was the press conference. He left it in a huff with echoes of "Arr-Cee-Bee! Arr-Cee-Bee!" still ringing in the air.