Published: May 11, 2015, 11:29 AM (IST)
Edited: May 11, 2015, 11:29 AM (IST)
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) and moved to the top of the table in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday. With this win, CSK are finely placed on top with 16 points, while RR stutter delicately in third position and have a match left to confirm their place in the play-offs.
CSK won the toss and batted first. They didn’t get an ideal start as Dwayne Smith went early. At one end, Brendon McCullum kept himself going while wickets kept tumbling at the other end. McCullum played a fine knock of 81 off 61 balls and along with Faf Du Plessis, stitched a 101-run partnership which stabilised the innings. But after the duo fell, MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo helped CSK reach a respectable total of 158 with their cameos.
While chasing 159, RR got off to a decent start before Ajinkya Rahane fell in the sixth over off Mohit Sharma. After Rahane’s dismissal, RR kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Superb bowling and acrobatic fielding helped CSK tighten the RR screws. After losing half their side for 90 runs, Sanju Samson and James Faulkner took the responsibility for taking the team towards victory. But, this time it was Ravindra Jadeja’s show with the ball, who stopped the RR batsman from crossing the finish line.
Turning point: RR required 43 runs off last 18 deliveries, which looked gettable with Samson and Faulkner playing intelligently and aggressively. But, in the 18th over, Bravo’s pace variation proved fruitful as he removed Samson, who tried for the maximum over extra-cover but ended in giving a simple catch to Smith. That’s where the match turned to its head and RR fell short off 12 runs, losing nine wickets in the end.
Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 157 for 5 in 20 overs [Brendon McCullum 81 (61), Faf du Plessis 29 (25); Chris Morris 4-0-19-3, Ankit Sharma 4-0-31-1] beat Rajasthan Royals 145 for 9 in 20 overs [Shane Watson 28 (30), Sanju Samson 26 (17), Ajinkya Rahane 23 (17); Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-11-3, Mohit Sharma 4-0-25-3]- by 12 runs.
