IPL 2023: Sandeep keeps calm despite Dhoni heroics as Royals win thriller by 3 runs

CSK's final score was 172 for 6 as Dhoni didn't end his 200th game for CSK in a manner he would have liked in his spiritual home with 30,000 plus spectators rooting for him.

Full match report:

Chennai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni gave a glimpse of the good old days of thrilling finishes but unheralded Rajasthan Royals seamer Sandeep Sharma nailed a couple of perfect block-hole deliveries to earn a three-run victory for Rajasthan Royals over Chennai Super Kings in a close IPL encounter, here on Wednesday.

Chasing a target of 176, Dhoni (32 off 17 balls) and Ravindra Jadeja (25 off 15 balls), veterans of many such tantalising finishes were on course as 21 was needed off the last over. CSK's final score was 172 for 6 as Dhoni didn't end his 200th game for CSK in a manner he would have liked in his spiritual home with 30,000 plus spectators rooting for him.

Punjab seamer Sandeep, who played a couple of games for India eight years back, seemed to lose his nerve as he bowled a couple of wides and then Dhoni whipped him over square leg and mid-wicket for a couple of sixes. Needing 6 off last two deliveries, the medium pacer got a wide yorker to Jadeja and then a perfect block-hole ball to Dhoni as it fetched a couple of singles.

However, Devon Conway had a scratchy approach on tacky pitch as his 50 off 38 balls didn't provide the momentum with Ravichandran Ashwin (2/25 in 4 overs) and YUzvendra Chahal (2/27 in 4 overs) bowling exceptionally well. Earlier, Jos Buttler wasn't exactly devastating in his approach but yet managed the 18th half-century of his IPL career as Rajasthan Royals posted a decent 175 for 8 after being put into bat first.

While Royals were 135 for 4 after 15 overs, the last five overs wasn't as productive as they would have expected with only 40 runs being added and four wickets lost in the process. Ravindra Jadeja (2/21 in 4 overs) was as usual menacing on a surface that assisted the spinners even as Buttler hit three huge sixes in his 36-ball-52. He had a good 77-run second wicket stand with Devdutt Padikkal (38 off 26 balls), who after his struggles against Punjab Kings, was back in his element.

Towards the end, Shimron Hetmyer (30 off 18 balls) was ever impressive as a finisher while Tushar Deshpande (2/37) gave only eight runs in the 20th over. The CSK bowlers, especially Jadeja managed to peg back the Royals batters after the brisk start with the 50 coming in the 6th over. Royals did struggle between overs 8-13 as they lost two wickets in the space of three balls with Padikkal and skipper Sanju Samson (0) falling to Jadeja.

The delivery that got Samson, was bowled with high arm speed and it did turn enough along with sufficient bounce to force the batter play a wrong line. After a phase in which the Royals batters did not score any boundaries for a little over six overs, Ashwin (30, 22 balls, 1x4, 2x6) smacked two successive sixes off debutant left-arm pacer Akash Singh.

He fell even as he was looking to step up the pace, skying one off Akash in the deep. After skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bowl, Deshpande struck an early blow for the home team, dismissing the dangerous Yashasvi Jaiswal (10, 8 balls, 2x4), having him caught by Shivam Dube.

Buttler and Padikkal (38, 26 balls, 5x4) add 77 runs in 41 deliveries before the latter fell to Ravindra Jadeja, caught in the deep by Devon Conway. The partnership laid the foundation for the Royals after Jaiswal was dismissed early. Dhoni was felicitated prior to the match for captaining CSK for a 200th time in IPL by former BCCI president N Srinivasan in the presence of his wife Chitra Srinivasan and former TNCA president Rupa Gurunath. (PTI)

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First innings report:

Chennai: Chennai Super Kings bowlers restricted Rajasthan Royals to 175/8 after leaking runs in the first 10 overs of the game at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday.

Yashasvi Jaiswal began his innings in a fashion he has done in earlier matches. However, he could not last long and was out on score of 10 runs, which came off eight balls. Tushar Deshpande surprised him with a bouncer and he mistimed the shot. The ball went straight into the hands of Shivam Dube.

Devdutt Padikkal came to bring RR back into the game and he and Buttler went on to find boundaries at consistent intervals.

Dhoni brought Ravindra Jadeja in the 9th over to change the dynamics of the game. Jadeja didn't take much time to leave his mark as he dismissed Padikkal who was looking dangerous at 38 (26).

The veteran Indian spinner struck once again and Sanju Samson was walking back to the pavilion for a duck after facing two balls. As Rajasthan's innings was on the verge of a collapse, Ravichandran Ashwin came in to steady the sinking ship. His partnership with Buttler proved crucial as the team quickly switched gears to gather runs. Ashwin joined the party with two successive sixes to boost the run rate in the 15th over but ended up losing his wicket with a mistimed shot.

Dhoni gambled in the 17th over and brought Moeen Ali to change the equation of the game and limit Rajasthan's scoring rate. Moeen completely took Buttler by surprise as the English batter made an attempt to play a sweep shot but ended up completely missing it. The ball crashed into the stumps and Hetmeyer was left with a huge task in his hands. The Royals were 142/5 in the 17th over.

Hetmeyr and Dhruv Jurel tried to hit boundaries but CSK's cost-effective bowling kept the run rate in check. Jurel tried to score a maximum, but he failed to get the ball across the boundary.

Hetmeyer found the boundary on the first ball of the final over to take RR's score beyond 170 run mark. Jason Holder came to take strike but ended up losing a wicket for a golden duck. Zampa came in and flicked the ball and Theekshana dropped the catch. He ended up getting run out on the final ball as Rajasthan ended their innings with a score of 175/8.

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Toss report:

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Wednesday won the toss and elected to bowl against Rajasthan Royals (RR) here at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Here's what the captains had to say:

MS Dhoni: We will bowl first. It maybe slightly on the slower side,different from the first game. Dew may play a role and it might get better in the second innings. (On his 200th game as CSK captain in the IPL) It feels good and also I feel the crowd has been fantastic. Also the fact that we started in the old stadium, it was very hot and humid. But now it feels like we're playing in Switzerland. It's good to play. We have seen cricket change - how T20 was played at that point of time till now, a lot has changed.The crowd has been fantastic. We have had injury concerns and players were unavailable, but still we have done well. Mitchell Santner and Pretorius make way for Theekshana and Moeen.

Sanju Samson: We would have liked to bowl first too. We have started well but we need to continue the momentum. We are playing at Chepauk after a long time. We have experience and the youngsters to do that. It has always been a pleasure to come to Chepauk and play here. Boulty misses out due to a small niggle and we have a couple of changes, you will come to know that. It's difficult to keep track with the sub rule.

Teams:

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Sisanda Magala, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh

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PREVIEW

Rajasthan Royals' inform openers -- Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal have had it easy up until now considering the flat-ish nature of Guwahati pitches. However, they will be up against the spin web of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on a pitch that grips, holds, and turns, meaning the bowlers won't be just sitting ducks here at the Chepauk pitch.

Purely going by the numbers is a testament to how unleashing they both have been, not only in terms of runs that they have garnered but blasting opponents through a sky-rocketing strike-rate. The England captain and youngster Jaiswal have two half-centuries to their name thus far, coming at 180.95 and 164.47 respectively and that has been enough to turn the tides in Rajasthan's favor early on.

Although, what is to be considered here are also the venues where the games were played. The two games of the three were played in Guwahati, one of the flattest deck in the country while the third game that Rajasthan Royals played was in Hyderabad -- a strip that heavily supports batters, where runs flows at batter's own volition.

The change in the venue at Chennai will certainly be a different world altogether where toss could be an underlying factor as chasing anything more than 180 requires the performance of the highest order. And the obstacles to overcome would be Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner, who will take up 10-12 overs of the match and they have it in them what it takes to choke the opposition. These three are not only threatening as the numbers would suggest where they have taken 11 wickets together in three games but can also slow down the opposition as their economy rate suggests.

Consider this: Moeen has an economy of 6.50 in two games that he has played while Jadeja has 6.88. Santer too has 6.75 and these numbers could be fatal to an opposition like Rajasthan that looks to score at a high pace. A vital cog, Moeen, did miss the last game on account of food poisoning but is expected to feature in the playing XI replacing Sisanda Magala. Another alteration that might take place would be that of Ben Stokes by Dwaine Pretorius. Stokes may not be match fit, come the game.

Royals too have with them enough in their armory the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal with the former being a shrewd tactician and the latter an out-and-out wicket-taker. Tamil Nadu's Murugan Ashwin add teeth to their bowling line-up. Deepak Chahar would give the game, perhaps the entire tournament amiss owing to the resurfacing of a left hamstring injury.

Moreover, Dhoni might find himself in an interesting predicament as to who to go for. Rajvardhan Hangargekar has been fast but erratic and the captain may even go for a willy Simarjeet Singh. The batting too seems heavily loaded with Ajinkya Rahane hitting a quick fifty and marking his comeback in the last match which also had performances from Jadeja and Santner. To top it off, Ruturaj Gaikwad's caliber put the CSK side on an equal pedestal with RR.

With the two sides, boasting stalwarts, especially in the batting order, it would be up to the bowlers' performance over which the results would heavily depend on. The Royals have power-packed players who can single-handedly demolish oppositions, their skipper Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer being among the most lethal weapons in their armoury.

Their pace combo of Trent Boult and Jason Holder, both experience and high-profile international cricketers makes the Rajasthani side superior to the CSK. Althogh, the game's outcome would still be determined by which team plays better cricket on the given day.

The last time, the wicket offered bounce in the game against Lucknow Super Giants and the question as to how the wicket will behave is still up for grabs. Despite everything, the match, for sure, promises to be a cracker of a contest.