IPL 2019: 25th Match, Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings – Match Review; It turned out to be yet another last ball thriller as Chennai Super Kings held their nerves and defeated Rajasthan Royals by 3 wickets in the final delivery of the match. The Rajasthan Royals bowlers reduced CSK to 24/4. To come back from there and win the match is simply superb for the three-time champions. Courtesy the victory, Chennai Super Kings also keep their winning run intact. They are currently at the top of the points table with 6 wins from 7 matches.
The Turning Point of the Match
The partnership between MS Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu proved to be the turning point in the match. After CSK were reduced to 24/4, RR hoped to skittle out CSK cheaply. However, the experienced pair of MS Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu had other plans in mind. They batted sensibly and found the boundaries at crucial junctures of the game.
They stitched together a brilliant stand of 95 runs which got CSK back into the match. Though both batters were dismissed before getting their side over the line, it was their partnership which got them close to the target. Eventually, it was Mitchell Santner who struck a last ball six to hand Chennai Super Kings a memorable victory by 4 wickets.
Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings- 2nd innings
Chasing a reasonable target of 152 runs, Chennai Super Kings began in the worst possible manner. Dhawal Kulkarni castled Shane Watson with a peach of a delivery in the very first over. Suresh Raina’s stay at the crease was also short-lived as Jofra Archer ran the batsman out with a terrific throw. However if Raina wouldn’t have been busy ball watching, he would have completed the single easily.
Wickets kept falling on a consistent basis as Faf du Plessis and Kedar Jadhav was also dismissed in quick succession. Jaydev Unadkat bagged the wicket of Faf du Plessis with a good slower delivery. On the other hand, Ben Stokes took the catch of the tournament to send Kedar Jadhav back to the pavilion. Chennai was reduced to 24/4 when the man of crisis came out in the middle to join Ambati Rayudu.
From there on it was a sensational partnership between MS Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu which helped the yellow brigade storm their way back into the match. Dhoni played sensibly and took on the two leg spinners Shreyas Gopal and the 17-year-old Riyan Parag. He looked in ominous touch and struck some lusty blows to get going.
Ambati Rayudu played a calm and composed knock in the other end and found the gaps on a consistent basis. He reached a well-deserved half-century in the 15th over to give CSK hope. Ambati Rayudu was dismissed after making his half-century. However, MS Dhoni was still there at the crease hoping to win the match for CSK.
18 runs were required of the final over when Ben Stokes was handed over the ball by Ajinkya Rahane. Ravindra Jadeja struck the craziest shot in cricket history as the ball went sailing over the boundary rope. MS Dhoni was castled by Stokes in the 3rd delivery. In the very next delivery, there was drama as Dhoni came to the ground from the dugout to inquire an umpiring decision. Eventually, Mitchell Santner struck a straight six in the final delivery to help CSK win an incredible game of cricket.
Scoreboard
Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings- 1st innings
It was Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni who won the toss and put the hosts in. Openers Jos Buttler and Ajinkya Rahane came out to begin proceedings for Rajasthan. Both the batters looked in great touch and played some delightful shots to get going. Buttler struck a four and a six of the opening over of Deepak Chahar while Rahane followed it up with three beautiful boundaries.
Deepak Chahar bagged the wicket of Ajinkya Rahane as he insisted MS Dhoni to go for a DRS. A few more wickets fell on a consistent basis which pushed Rajasthan to the backfoot. Ravindra Jadeja bowled brilliantly in the middle overs and bagged two crucial wickets of Steve Smith and Rahul Tripathi. The wicket of Smith was his 100th in IPL cricket. In the process, he also became the first left-arm spinner to bag 100 wickets in the cash-rich league.
Ben Stokes never got flow in his knock and was dismissed on 28 of 26 deliveries. The final flourish was to the innings was provided by leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal whose unbeaten knock of 19 of 7 deliveries ensured Rajasthan reach a competitive score of 151 in their allotted 20 overs. For Chennai Super Kings, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur bagged a couple of wickets each.
