On the back of match winning 95 not out by Jos Buttler, Rajasthan Royals defeated Chennai Super Kings by 4 wickets in a thrilling of 43rd match of VIVO IPL 2018 played at Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur. CSK captain won the toss and elected to bat first. Contributions from Raina, Dhoni and Watson helped visitors to post a competitive total. Buttler stayed till the end for RR helping hosts to win the match.
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat first. The inform Ambati Rayadu was dismissed by Jofra Archer for 12 runs. Suresh Raina and Shane Watson played with positive intent putting pressure on Rajasthan Royals bowlers. At the end of 6 overs, CSK scored 55 for 1.
Both Raina and Watson continued their aggressive intent. Rajasthan Royals could not stem the flow of runs. Consistent Raina reached his 34th IPL half-century off 32 balls. Raina and Shane Watson added 86 runs for the 2nd wicket. Watson was dismissed by Jofra Archer for 39 runs. After the dismissal of Shane Watson, Rajasthan Royals got the wicket of Suresh Raina for 52.
Sam Billings and MS Dhoni added 55 runs for the 4th wicket. Both MS Dhoni and Sam Billings struggled to time the ball. Billings was dismissed in the last over for 27. Dhoni remained not out on 33 off 23 balls. CSK posted 176 for 4 in 20 overs.
Chasing 177, Jos Buttler continued his impressive form while opening the batting for Rajasthan Royals. Ben Stokes who came to open with Buttler was dismissed for 11 runs. Both Stokes and Buttler added 48 runs for the opening wicket. In the next over, Rajasthan Royals captain Rahane was dismissed cheaply for 4 runs.
At the end of six overs, Rajasthan Royals scored 57 for 2. After the powerplay overs, Buttler reached his fourth successive half-century as an opener off 26 balls. Buttler and Samson added 46 runs for the 3rd wicket before Samson sacrificed his wicket for 21 runs.
Playing his first match this season, Prashant Chopra was dismissed for 8 runs. Stuart Binny and Buttler added 37 runs for the 5th wicket. With 28 runs off the last 2 overs, K Gowtham played a cameo innings scoring 13 off 4 balls. Jos Buttler played a match-winning knock of 95 not out and helped Rajasthan Royals win the match by 4 wickets with 1 ball to spare.
For CSK, David Willey, Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur and Bravo picked up 1 wicket each.
RR 177 for 6 in 19.5 overs ( Buttler 95*, Binny 22, Sanju Samson 21, Ravindra Jadeja 1/28, Shardul Thakur 1/22) beat
CSK 176 for 4 in 20 overs ( Suresh Raina 52, Watson 39, Dhoni 33, Archer 2/42) by 4 wickets.
CSK captain MS Dhoni said: The total of 176 was a plus par total on this pitch. The bowlers let us down big time. It was not a good bowling effort by our bowlers. Fielding was impressive. It was a disappointing performance and need to improve going forward.
RR captain Rahane said: Credit to Jos Buttler the way he batted. The wicket was not easy to bat but Gowtham sixes were important to the team’s cause. The next match against Mumbai in Mumbai would not be easy but need to play our top game to defeat. We need to win three out of three to qualify.
Man of the match Buttler said: In the IPL it is one of my best innings. The wicket played very well in the first six overs. Bravo is the best death bowler but I backed my attitude and special to play in front my family, wife.
The last time these two teams met in this tournament, CSK crushed RR by 64 runs at MCA Stadium, Pune.
Kings XI Punjab will take on Kolkata Knight Riders in tomorrow”s first match at Holkar Stadium, Indore while Royal Challengers Bangalore face Delhi Daredevils in a 2nd match at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, New Delhi.