Rajasthan Royals beat Chennai Super Kings by 16 runs in Sharjah to get their campaign off with a win. It was a high-scoring encounter with as many as 33 sixes hit in the game. CSK who were chasing 217 to win reached 200 in the final ball of the game. Faf Du Plessis’ 72 off 37 balls was not enough as the Men in Yellow suffered their first defeat this season.
With a tough run chase in prospect in the Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings encounter, Shane Watson started in full-flow with Murali Vijay. The duo added 56 for the first wicket inside seven overs.
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Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings – Tewatia’s Spell Key for RR
However, it was Rahul Tewatia’s spell which brought the Royals back into the game. He first dismissed a well-set Watson for 33 in his first over and then came back to dismiss Sam Curran (17) and Ruturaj Gaikwad in his second over. Kedar Jadhav, then walked out to bat, with a mountain to climb.
He scored 22 off 16 balls and in trying to up the ante perished in the 14th over. Jadhav’s wicket shifted the balance of the Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings contest well in RR’s favour.
MS Dhoni walked out to bat as late as number seven and in the 15th over of CSK’s chase. With 79 required off 24 balls, Faf Du Plessis started finding the boundaries. He added a 65-run stand till he was dismissed in the 19th over. Finally, CSK reached 200 to lose the game by 16-runs.
Also read: MS Dhoni Reveals Why He Batted Deep Down In The Order
Earlier in the Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings contest, CSKwon the toss and elected to field first. Sanju Samson (74) and Steve Smith (69) added a 121-run stand. However, it was Jofra Archer’s cameo (27 off 8 balls) that helped the Royals reach a mammoth score of 216/7.
Archer smacked four sixes in the 20th over bowled by Lungi Ngidi The RR all-rounder hit two back to back sixes, to follow it up with two more sixes, both of no-balls by Ngidi. It was a tall over by the Proteam pacer as he took 10 deliveries to complete the over.
Royals scored 30 runs off the 20th over to post a competitive score in Sharjah. It was the most expensive over of the innings.
Meanwhile, three bowlers gave away more than 50 runs in the Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings contest. For CSK it was Piyush Chawla and Lungi Ngidi and for the Royals, it was Tom Curran.
The MS Dhoni Debate
The result of this game could well have been different had MS Dhoni batted up the order. The debate of MS Dhoni’s batting position in IPL 2020 will once again be raised after the result of this game and especially after the margin of their defeat at the end.
Sanju Samson for his delightful innings was awarded the Man of the Match. CSK play Delhi Capitals in their next match on September 25, while the Royals play Kings Xi Punjab in Sharjah on September 27. Royals after their 16-run win over MS Dhoni’s men are currently, the table-toppers with a net-run rate of +0.800.
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