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. Here are the 5 talking points among the many that the match had to offer.
The Steve Smith-Sanju Samson Stand in RR vs CSK Contest
Sanju Samson is a pleasure to the eyes whenever he gets going. He got going from the very first match for the Royals which is very good news for them. Samson scored 74 of just 32 balls with as many as nine sixes in his knock. Sanju hit three sixes to Piyush Chawla in his very first over as Chawla went for 28. Together with Steve Smith who scored 69, the duo set the pace of the RR vs CSK contest. They added 121-run for the second wicket, which was a killer blow to Chennai’s hopes early in the game.
Also Read: Manoj Tiwary Disagrees With Gautam Gambhir Over Sanju Samson Debate
The Jofra Archer Cameo
Jofra Archer too had his impact with the bat as he smacked four sixes to Lungi Ngidi in the 20th over of the RR innings. Ngidi looked lost the plot with the ball bowling two no-balls and Archer chassed onn it big time. He scored 27 off 8 balls to help the Royals finish on 216/7. It was Archer’s cameo that ultimately made the difference between the two teams.
Rahul Tewatia’s Spell
Tewatia is one of the underrated spinners in the IPL, but boy he did his job well against CSK. In the very first over of his spell, he dismissed the well-set Shane Watson (33) to break the game open for his team. He then struck twice in his second over dismissing Sam Curran (17) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (0). He made the ball spin to its fullest and dropped it shoot in the case of Curran and Gaikwad when both tried to charge him down the wicket.
CSK’s Slow Progress in the Middle Overs
At one pint inn the game, CSK needed 79 off 24 balls to win the game. Tewatia’s spell slowed the run-scoring for CSK and the regular loss of wickets meant that Chennai even with Dhoni batting had a little too much to do. CSK made the huge error of pressing the accelerator late in the innings and by the time they did, the game was done and dusted. Faf’s late flourish only helped him being up his fifty, but the bigger cause was still left unfulfilled, that of a CSK win.
The MS Dhoni Batting Conundrum in RR vs CSK
Stephen Fleming at the presser after the RR vs CSK contest, said that they were ‘trying to use their resource smartly’, which is why Dhoni was sent down the order. However, this happened at the cost of his team losing a match early in the season. Going forward, hopefully, the CSK management identifies the right batting number for their skipper as he still undoubtedly the best ‘finisher’ in the game. With Suresh Raina not available, number four is still the best position for the CSK skipper to bat as it gives him ample time to drive the game his way.
Also Read: IPL 2020: CSK Coach Stephen Fleming Explains Why MS Dhoni’s Batted at No.7
These were the 5 talking points from the RR vs CSK contest.