Mumbai: The spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali tormented the Rajasthan Royals batting line to secure a second consecutive victory for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL here.
Cameos of Faf du Plessis (33 of 17), Dwayne Bravo (20 not out of 8), Ambati Raydu (27 of 17) and Ali (26 of 20) helped CSK rank 188 for nine after being batted.
The Royals made a promising start in the chase with Jos Buttler (49 of 35) before the batsmen succumbed to the spinners on the Wankhede field, playing more innings than before. CSK won the match by 45 runs after the Royals’ innings ended at 143 for nine.
Ali (3/7 in 3 overs) quickly grabbed three consecutive wickets to effectively seal the match for his team, after Jadeja (2/28 in 4) delivered the decisive breakthrough by turning Buttler away with a classic delivery. One of the best fielders in the area, Jadeja, also took four catch shots.
It was another emphatic victory for CSK after beating the Punjab Kings while the Royals suffered their second loss in three games.
Earlier, CSK lost wickets towards the end with the batsmen hitting big hits and also in the light of good bowling by Royals. Bravo thrashed a big six from Mustafizur Rahman’s last ball (1/37) to ensure the Super Kings were close to 190. Du Plessis scored with 33 when the batsmen from CSK started, but could not make a profit after that.
The young Chetan Sakariya (3/36 of 4) was the best bowler for Rajasthan, while Chris Morris finished with 2/33, despite conceding 15 runs in his last over.
MS Dhoni, in his 200th match as CSK captain, batted at number 7 but could not get going as fast as he would have liked. However, he managed two boundaries in his 17-ball 18 before being hit by a cutter by Sakariya, only to catch Jos Buttler. He survived a run-out and a few anxious moments in his short knock.
Rayudu and Suresh Raina (18, 15 balls, 1 four, 1 six) added 45 runs in a quick time around the fourth wicket before the first one perished for an attacking shot on the outside of Sakariya.
Sakariya hit again a few balls later and Raina hit straight to Morris so late when CSK threw to 125 in the 15th over.
Rayudu hit the sixth consecutive delivery in the second over of Tewatia and scored 14 runs as he and Raina tried to capitalize on the fifth and sixth bowlers (Tewatia and Riyan Parag) by Samson, the captain of Royals. Tewatia started well by conceding just five runs in his first game and got Moeen Ali (26 of 20).
The start of Ruturaj Gaikwad, the starting button, continued as his attempt to knock him out saw that he had a pull, only to see that it was Shivam Dube from Rahman. He fell for 10 (13 balls, 1 four) after adding 25 runs around the first wicket with co-starting midfielder du Plessis.
The South African showed intent and dived Jaydev Unadkat in the fifth over and hammered three fours and one six before an ambitious shot brought his fall off Morris’ bowling.
Source: Telangana Today