Short Scores: Chennai Super Kings 188/9 (Faf du Plessis 33, Ambati Rayudu 27; Chetan Sakariya 3/36) beat Rajasthan Royals 143/9 (Jos Buttler 49, Jaydev Unadkat 24; Moeen Ali 3/7) under 45 runs .
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) registered their second consecutive victory this season, beating Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 45 runs in Match 12 of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai yesterday.
Moeen Ali starred with the ball while Ravindra Jadeja grabbed four catches, adding to his two vital breakthroughs that powered CSK to a comprehensive victory over RR.
Chasing a target of 189, RR openers Manan Vohra and Jos Buttler got off to a solid start, scoring 11 runs off Deepak Chahar’s first game before Sam Curran bowled a tight second over.
Vohra then took a short one and Curran deposited for a max before the right-hander held out deep mid wicket, providing CSK their first win in the fourth over.
Buttler at the other end, played fearless shots and attacked Chahar’s speed straight down the ground, with four and six off the wicketkeeper’s batter’s blade.
However, Curran managed to get RR sprinter Sanju Samson out cheap with a slower one as RR ended their powerplay with a total of 45/2 on board.
Shivam Dube joined Buttler in the crease and the duo gradually played the middle strings, with Buttler playing the role of striker.
The right wing put Jadeja’s deliveries off two fours, and later smacked six off a free-kick.
RR was set for 81/2 at the 10-over mark and that’s when the game turned completely in favor of CSK.
It all started with Jadeja’s steals casting Buttler sticks which landed at the perfect stop as the right man fell one short of half a century. Then CSK kicked all-rounder Dube ahead of him, in the same over.
David Miller, a former RR game hero, could only score two runs this time after Moeen Ali got the left-footed player out of LBW.
The right-arm spinner then picked two wickets in the 15th over, with both dismissals nearly identical. Riyan Parag and Chris Morris tried to launch Ali out of the park but they ended up straight for Jadeja in the middle of a deep wicket.
With the pressure of chasing a big total, RR collapsed in no time and lost vital wickets in the middle tops, slipping to 95/7.
Rahul Tewatia (20) and Jaydev Unadkat (24) helped RR improve to an extent and crushed three sixes between them before becoming victims of the slower balls by Bravo and Shardul Thakur respectively as CSK sealed victory.
Earlier, CSK, who was put into bats, and RR remained unchanged after securing wins in their respective games.
Openers Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad got off to a cautious start against left-arm quizzes Jaydev Unadkat and Chetan Sakariya, before du Plessis charged down and cleared the ropes in the second over against Sakariya.
Ruturaj looked rusty against Mustafizur Rahman’s speed fluctuations and was dismissed after edging one to extra cover as the left-hander scalped his first wicket of the match, providing RR an early breakthrough.
Duckless was unaffected by the wicket though and brought his scout pad into play and crushed three fours and six off Unadkat, scoring 19 off the fifth over.
Chris Morris was brought on to bowl the final of the powerplay and the control ended with a dangerous du Plessis beat after the latter sliced a delivery to Riyan Parag in the field.
CSK was 46-2 at the end of the powerplay and Ali continued his rich form and tied two sixes early in his innings, playing with full freedom.
The left-hander tried to damage RR’s bowling further after adding 33 runs with Suresh Raina but ended up abusing a wider delivery by Rahul Tewatia that brought an end to the left-hander’s innings.
Ambati Rayudu joined Raina in the crease and the duo went after the part-time Parag, smashing two sixes each and bringing up 16 off the 11th over. The result was no different in the next over after the right-hander hit Tewatia’s smack for six in a row.
Sakariya came back to bowl the 14th over and shifted the momentum back to RR after scalding two wickets with Rayudu and Raina looking to go big against the left arm sailor.
RR managed to add some pressure after the double wicket was over and forced CSK to play a quiet couple of pellets. CSK captain MS Dhoni hit two boundaries before Sakariya dismissed the wicket-keeper and scalded his third wicket from the pubs.
Jadeja was dismissed in the next fight and Morris bagged his second wicket from the pubs.
Although RR chose wickets at the time of his death, Dwayne Bravo played an entertaining gameo, scoring only 20 off eight balls and helping CSK finish with a flourish with a total of 188/9.