A brilliant spell of 3/26 from the spirited Simarjeet Singh, a disciplined bowling effort from the bowlers, and a crucial knock of 42*(41) from captain Ruturaj Gaikwad helped Chennai Super Kings (CSK) notch a vital win over Rajasthan Royals in tightly-contested Match 61 of the TATA IPL 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Simarjeet bowled with energy and aggression and sent back the set openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler, before coming back to dismiss captain Sanju Samson, picking up crucial wickets to jolt RR. The accurate and disciplined bowling meant that RR never got the momentum going and could only manage 141/5. The RR bowlers fought hard, but a calm and composed knock of 42*(41) and a brisk momentum changing cameo of 18(11) from Shivam Dube helped CSK cross the finish line with five wickets in hand.
Chasing 142, CSK got off to a brisk start courtesy of Rachin Ravindra who hit some effortless strokes in his 18-ball 27. But he couldn’t convert the start into the big one as he departed in the fourth over, top-edging a slog sweep off R Ashwin. Daryl Mitchell took the aggressive approach straightaway, hitting four well-placed minimal risk fours to take CSK to 56/1 at the end of the Powerplay. The introduction of Yuzvendra Chahal brought a wicket for RR as he trapped Mitchell LBW. The batter reviewed it, but replays showed all three reds.
CSK then went 31 balls without a boundary and that pressure brought about a success as Moeen Ali holed out to deep point off Impact Player Nandre Burger in the 12th over. Shivam Dube finally released the pressure valve as he smashed a massive six and a couple of fours but Ashwin bounced back to have him caught at long on off the last ball of the over.
What Dube’s quick-fire knock did was change the momentum and bring the required run rate below six. RR though were very close to having another one as Buttler nearly pulled off a brilliant catch of Jadeja at long on. He caught the ball, but being off balance and with the rope inches away, he flicked it back inside to save five runs. Gaikwad then survived a run out scare as the fielder missed the direct hit on a risky single. Drama followed as another miscommunication saw Jadeja given out obstructing the field as Samson’s throw hit him after being sent back by Gaikwad, trying to go for the second.
CSK sent in Sameer Rizvi as their Impact Player, replacing Daryl Mitchell. With 21 needed off 24, Gaikwad, who had held fort at one end, and Rizvi made sure that there were no more hiccups as they took the home side past the finish line with 10 balls to spare. Rizvi finished it off in style with two fours and remained unbeaten on 15 off 11 balls, while Gaikwad remained unbeaten on 42 off 41 balls.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bat.
The openers – Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal got off to a watchful start, scoring seven off the first two overs. Buttler scored the first boundary of the innings in the third over, pulling a short one from Tushar Deshpande over mid-wicket for a four. Jaiswal too found his groove and hit a six and a four off Maheesh Theekshana in the fourth over and then cracked a couple of powerful fours off Shardul Thakur in the next over. It was largely a decent Powerplay for CSK as some disciplined bowling restricted RR to 42/0. The pressure was building, and Yashasvi fell to it as he miscued a short one from Simarjeet Singh. RR lost two in quick succession as Simarjeet had Buttler brilliantly caught at long leg by Tushar Deshpande in his next over.
The boundaries were hard to come by, and CSK could have had the big wicket of Riyan Parag, but Theekshana dropped him at deep point in the 12th over, off Ravindra Jadeja. Parag and Samson didn’t get much momentum in the partnership, and it brought about another dismissal as Samson hit one straight to mid off, off Simarjeet, who picked up his third wicket. By the end of 15 overs, RR had scored just five fours and three sixes, reaching 94/3. Dhruv Jurel then provided the much-needed impetus with a quick-fire 18-ball 28, but CSK pulled things back quickly in the last two overs.
Shardul conceded just seven in the penultimate over and Deshpande scalped two wickets in the last over, giving away 10 runs.
Parag hit a six in the last over but couldn’t get ot his half-century as he remained unbeaten on 47*(35). RR managed 141/5 but there were only seven fours and six sixes hit in the entire innings. RR introduced Nandre Burger as their Impact Player, replacing Dhruv Jurel.
