On the back of a brilliant century by Shane Watson, Chennai Super Kings crush Rajasthan Royals by 64 runs in the 17th match of IPL 2018 at their new adopted home Pune, just finished a few moments ago.
RR captain Rahane won the toss and elected to field first. Shane Watson brilliant 106 and cameo from Raina, Bravo helped CSK post 204. While chasing, RR lost wickets at regular intervals, could not chase this big total.
Rajasthan Royals captain Ajiyanka Rahane won the toss and elected to field. Chennai Super Kings opener Shane Watson started the innings on aggressive note smashing Stuart Binny 14 runs in the first over and continued to smash Rajasthan Royals bowlers.
Ambati Rayadu was dismissed by Ben Laughlin for 12 runs. Suresh Raina came at the crease and continued to put pressure on Rajasthan Royals bowlers. At the end of 6 overs, Chennai Super Kings scored 74 runs for 1 wicket.
Watson reached his half-century off 28 balls. Both Watson and Suresh Raina added 81 runs for the 2nd wicket. Raina scored quick fire 46. Shane Watson continued to smash the Rajasthan Royals bowlers and reached his century off 51 balls. It was the second century of IPL 2018 after Chris Gayle 104 not out in yesterday’s match against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Shane Watson was dismissed for well made 106 off 57 balls. In the death overs, Rajasthan Royals bowled well and restricted Chennai Super Kings batsmen. Dwayne Bravo scored 24 off 16 balls. Chennai Super Kings posted a massive total of 204 for 5 in 20 overs.
Sheryas Gopal was the pick of the bowler for Rajasthan Royals with 3 wickets while Ben Laughlin picked 2 wickets. Chasing 205, captain Rahane looked good with aggressive batting. Klassen was dismissed in the 2nd over for 7 runs. Captain Rahane and Sanju Samson were dismissed. At the end of 6 overs, Rajasthan Royals were struggling at 35 for 3.
Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes added 45 runs for the 4th wicket. Bravo dismissed Jos Buttler and Rahul Tripathi in quick succession. Ben Stokes tried his best to give a Rajasthan Royals a chance but was dismissed for 45 runs.
Rajasthan Royals lost wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 140 runs in 18.3 overs. For Chennai, Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma and Bravo picked 2 wickets each.
CSK 204 for 5 in 20 overs ( Shane 106, Raina 46, Bravo 24*, S Gopal 3/20, Laughlin 2/38) beat
RR 140 in 18.3 overs ( Ben Stokes 45, Jos Buttler 22, Shardul Thakur 2/18, Bravo 2/16) by 64 runs.
RR captain Rahane said: Watson played a brilliant inning. Credit goes to CSK who outplayed us in every department. CSK were too good. Our fielding was poor and dropped the catch of Shane Watson who looked positive from ball one. We need to move on, believing in our abilities from the next game.
CSK captain MS Dhoni said: It was a complete team performance. Shane Watson started the innings on a positive note right from the start and put the pressure on Rajasthan Royals bowlers. Raina also played a good cameo knock. The batsman made life easy for the bowlers. When you score 200 plus runs, the spinners need to vary their pace.
Man of the match Shane Watson said: I am very happy to perform well with the bat. It was important for me to give a great start to the team. Lucky to play for Chennai Super Kings and was too happy to contribute to my team.
Chennai Super Kings moves at the top of points table with their 3rd win out of 4 matches, because of their higher net run rate.
Kings XI Punjab will face Kolkata Knight Riders in the first match at Eden Garden’s, while Royal Challengers Bangalore takes on Delhi Daredevils at M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore tomorrow.
