Hits
Dwayne Smith
A good opening was important if Chennai Super Kings were to set a respectable total against a fairly good Rajasthan Royals bowling attack and Dwayne Smith with his explosive shots did not disappoint. A 28-ball 50 at the top of the order laid down a good platform for the team to follow.
Ishwar Pandey
A maiden over, an important wicket of James Faulkner in the end with an economy of just 5.5 runs per over, Ishwar Pandey more than did his share of work with the ball. For a youngster to step up in such a situation with so less runs to play with was a remarkable achievement.
Rajat Bhatia
An extraordinary all-round display by Rajat Bhatia with 2 wickets, a run-out of Faf Du Plessis and an economy of just 3.2 runs per over, Rajat Bhatia was already a contender for the Man-of-the-Match award after the first innings itself. But he put in a handy performance with the bat too making it even harder for the panel to decide scoring a 20-ball 23 to get Rajasthan Royals closer to the target.
Ravindra Jadeja
Argubaly, the game changer for the Chennai Super Kings was Ravindra Jadeja. Two wickets in two balls that too of Shane Watson and Sanju Samson proved to be the turning point of the match and in-turn decided the tie eventually. His 4 wickets added to his 36 runs in the first innings which helped CSK touch the 140 mark indeed earned him the Man-Of-the-Match award.
Flops
He had an opposite day to that of Dwayne Smith. For the chase to be smooth, an opening partnership needs to be good and losing your wicket with just 10 runs on the board isn’t the most ideal start a team would want.
Shane Watson
As the captain of the side you’re expected to contribute more than just making decisions but with your performances when it matters. Shane Watson for some reason hasn’t really taken up captaincy that well with a dip in his performances in both the games.
M.S Dhoni
The rarity of a flop show from M.S.Dhoni is so high that we can’t let the one chance we get to point it out. An uncharacteristic wicket thrown away in the first innings when the team needed some rebuilding and later in the 2nd innings a sitter missed when he couldn’t gather to ball to stump Steve Smith out. Though he captained his side well but it was a bad game for Dhoni as per his own high standards.