Chennai (Tamil Nadu): Chennai Super Kings on Sunday clinched a five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in a low-scoring thriller to brighten their IPL playoffs qualification chances here on Sunday.
Chasing a modest 142 on a tricky surface, CSK made 145 for 5 in 18.2 overs with skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad dropping the anchor to make a well-compiled unbeaten 42 (41 balls). Rookie Sameer Rizvi hit an eight-ball 15 not out with three fours to end the game in a jiffy after all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja became the third batter in IPL history to be adjudged out after obstructing the field.
Earlier in the first innings, CSK bowlers led by seamer Simarjeet Singh produced a unified show to restrict Rajasthan Royals to a modest 141 for 5. Pacer Tushar Deshpande took 2/30 while the others produced disciplined spells. For RR, Riyan Parag top scored with 47 not out off 35 balls with three sixes and one four.
Match Updates From Here
- Overs 16-18.2 (145/5)
Ravindra Jadeja, who got lucky on the last ball of the 15th over, lost his wicket in the next over by becoming the only third victim of obstructing the field after Yusuf Pathan and Amit Mishra. At that time, it looked like RR could make a game out of it as impact player Sameer Rizvi came out to bat ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has been in terrific form. Moreover, Rizvi showed everyone that he hadn't made it to the grand stage by luck, but he had earned it. His unbeaten cameo of 15 runs off 8 balls took CSK to another win - the seventh of the season and they have grabbed crucial two points to stay in contention for the playoffs. - Overs 11-15 (116/4)
Nandre Burger provided another breakthrough for RR as he removed Moeen Ali. RR got a couple of wickets in quick succession. But then all-rounder Shivam Dube smashed a couple of fours and a six before being dismissed by Ravichandran Ashwin in the same over. Dube's cameo changed the whole scenario of the game and slightly tilted it towards CSK's favour taking the required run rate below six. Sanju Samson then brought back Yuzvendra Chahal into the attack, but Ruturaj Gaikwad whacked him for a boundary releasing the pressure. However, Chahal had almost picked a wicket of Ravindra Jadeja, but Jos Buttler couldn't hold on to it at the deep. He had almost crossed the boundary line, but he did well to throw the ball inside the boundary. - Overs 7-10 (77/1)
CSK doing well to stay ahead of the required rate and looks like Daryl Mitchell is on a mission to attack with Ruturaj Gaikwad playing second fiddle. Rachin Ravindra did well to attack and get the side off to a positive start. Looked in the mood for a decent run today but Ravichandran Ashwin outsmarted him. RR bowlers pulled things back slightly by creating pressure on the batters and not letting them free their arms. Chahal came out to bowl and he picked up a wicket straightaway and conceded only one run in his first over. He removed dangerous-looking Daryl Mitchell and helped RR to make a comeback in the game. Ashwin also made a nice comeback after conceding a couple of boundaries in the previous over. - Overs 1-6 (56/1)
CSK got the start they would have wanted. They have scored runs at the run rate of over nine and now need to score a run a ball to win this encounter. Rachin Ravindra came out with an intent but lost his wicket to Ravichandran Ashwin. Daryl Mitchell came out to bat and scored runs at a high strike rate. He played a couple of sweeps against Ashwin and took his side past 50-run mark and found consecutive boundaries against Sandeep Sharma. From here CSK will be losing the game if they couldn't chase the target down.
END OF RAJASTHAN ROYALS INNINGS
- Overs 16-20 (141/5)
On a slow, turgid pitch, RR have managed to score only 141. Right from the start, it looked tough going and CSK never allowed RR to get away. The introduction of Dhruv Jurel added some momentum to the innings but still, the fours and sixes did not come as often as RR would have liked. Parag also smashed a couple of boundaries and a six, but it wasn't enough to take his side past the 150-run mark. Tushar Deshpande picked up a couple of wickets in the final over of the innings. Simarjeet was the pick with a three-fer as he used all his variations. It's not easy to time the ball on this so RR will feel they still are in this. An interesting chase is coming up. - Overs 11-15 (94/3)
Simarjeet Singh picked up a crucial wicket to break the partnership. He removed in-form captain Sanju Samson. The partnership was set and they were trying to break loose. The target around 150-160 looks like a good score on this deck. It will only get slower from here. The 486 runs by Sanju Samson this season is the most runs for him in an IPL season (484 runs in IPL 2021) and his average (69.4) and strike rate (158.8) this year are already the best for him in a single season. The runs haven't come easily for RR here. They will need some boost in the last five overs if they want to post a defendable target against the long batting lineup of CSK. - Overs 7-10 (61/2)
RR openers are off to a watchful start. The pitch isn't that great for batting as the ball is sticking into the surface. Would be interesting to see how they play against spinners after the powerplay. Rajasthan lost both the openers right after the powerplay and CSK did exactly what they are known for. Right-arm pacer Simarjit Singh removed both the openers in back-to-back overs and helped CSK to take charge of the match. Then CSK spinners built pressure on both new batters captain Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag. Only 19 runs came for RR in the last four overs. - Overs 1-6 (42/0)
Tushar Deshpande started the attack for Chennai Super Kings with a tight over. Ruturaj brought Maheesha Theekshana into the attack to share the new ball as it's the day game and spinners can get some spin off the surface. Buttler broke the shackles in the third over when he smashed a boundary to Deshpande in his second over. Gaikwad missed a chance to run Buttler out in the fourth over after a small miscommunication between both openers. Jaiswal then took the aggressive approach and smashed a six and hit consecutive fours off Thakur to take RR's score to 42 after six overs. Despite not losing a wicket, RR failed to cash in the powerplay and amassed only 42 runs at a run rate of 7 runs per over. Hence, the powerplay was won by CSK. - Impact player Substitutes
Rajasthan Royals Impact Subs:Rovman Powell, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Nandre Burger, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj
Chennai Super Kings Impact Subs: Ajinkya Rahane, Sameer Rizvi, Prashant Solanki, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Choudhary - Playing XI
Chennai Super Kings: Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(wk), Shardul Thakur, Tushar Deshpande, Simarjeet Singh, Maheesh Theekshana
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(wk/c), Riyan Parag, Shubham Dubey, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal - Toss
Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and opt to bat.
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