CHENNAI: JOS Buttler put his experience to effective use to make 52 off 36 balls and, in the process, helped Rajasthan Royals post a thrilling three-run win over Chennai Super Kings in the IPL played at the MA Chidambaram stadium. Buttler first forged a good partnership with Devdutt Padikkal before finding an ally in R Ashwin. Later, Ashwin’s figures of 2/25 put the visitors on their way. In the end, Sandeep Sharma bowled an intelligent final over under immense pressure to guide his side to a victory by three runs to give the league its fourth final-ball finish in as many days.
MS Dhoni’s (32 n.o) effort brought CSK close to victory, but it was not enough to cross the ropes. Chasing 176, CSK had a poor start losing Ruturaj Gaikwad cheaply. Thereafter, Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane did the rescue act with a solid stand of 68.
Conway was fluent and played the Rajasthan fast bowlers and spinners with equitable ease while Rahane was at his sublime best. He picked the gaps well and his inside-out shot off Adam Zampa had grace written all over it. When well set for another 50, Rahane was done in by change of pace to be trapped by Ashwin. A while later Ashwin accounted for Shivam Dube. These two wickets affected the rhythm of CSK as Moeen Ali too perished, caught in the deep by Sandeep Sharma off Adam Zampa. Suddenly from 78 for 2, CSK slipped to 102 for 5. The equation was 63 runs in 30 balls for a win when Dhoni walked into bat.
Dhoni preferred to take singles for a while and then attacked. In the 18th over, he sent an innocent looking one pitched outside off stump from Zampa right into the stands. Now, 40 runs were required off 12 balls. Jadeja struck a four and two sixes off Jason Holder to bring it down to 21 runs off six balls.
In the final over, Dhoni struck two sixes and when five runs were required of the final ball he managed only a single, leaving the crowd disappointed.
Earlier, barring Padikkal, none of the visitors’ batters showed the patience to handle CSK’s Jadeja. Jadeja’s 2 for 21 applied brakes on the visitors march. Put in to bat, Rajasthan had a disastrous start as they lost opener Yashasvi Jaiswal cheaply. But Butler and Devdutt Padikkal scored freely. Thus, Rajasthan could post 57 for 1 in the powerplay. Soon Jadeja gave the breakthrough by making Padikkal play a false stroke.
Rajasthan kind of lost their way in the middle overs as the pitch showed some signs of gripping and turning; one of those deliveries breached through Sanju Samson’s defences for zero. Shimron Hetmyer provided some late fireworks before the spinners completed the job, just about. Brief scores: RR 175/8 in 20 ovs (Buttler 52, Padikkal 38; Jadeja 2/21) bt CSK 172/6 in 20 ovs (Conway 50, Rahane 31, Dhoni 32 n.o; Ashwin 2/25).
Today’s Match
Kings host Titans
Two who have had decent starts to their IPL campaigns, Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings, go head to head on Thursday. A look...
Dhawan vs Shami
The skipper has only been dismissed once and has always made 40 or above in the three matches so far. While the other members of the Punjab squad like to get a move on straightaway, Dhawan is a more template batter: take time, suss the pitch and the bowling before exploding in the back end. Against Mohammed Shami, who has picked up six wickets, he will follow that same template. But if Shami is able to remove him with the new ball, Punjab’s challenge could be bigger.
Kings’ combination
Punjab Kings have coped with the absences of Liam Livingstone and Kagiso Rabada. With both of them in the scheme of things now, it will be interesting to see how they manage their overseas players. They played Matt Short and Sikandar Raza in the last game but they could find themselves on the outside if they want to play both Livingstone and Rabada. Sam Curran is a lock but the other places could be up for grabs.7.30 PM, Mohali, Star Sports and Jio Cinema