Guwahati: Defying odds in front of a home crowd who chanted “Dhoni, Dhoni!” and “CSK, CSK!” throughout the evening, Rajasthan Royals held their nerves to clinch a thriller against Chennai Super Kings here on Sunday.
Defending 182, the hosts beat the visitors by six runs in a see-saw battle to notch their first win of the season this season.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga was the wrecker-in-chief, scalping four for 35 as CSK were halted at 176 for six. For the record, since 2019, CSK have never successfully chased a 180-plus score.
Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad played a captain’s knock of 63 off 44 balls to keep CSK in the hunt before holing out to Yashasvi Jaiswal at long-on off Hasaranga in the 16th over.
However, that also brought the loudest cheer from the capacity crowd as in came Dhoni at No. 7. In his 11-ball 16, there were flashes of some vintage Dhoni, but he had to return with CSK still needing 20 runs from the last five balls. Jadeja’s 22-ball unbeaten 32 was not enough even as Sandeep Sharma gave away 13 runs in the last over.
Defending 182, the home team got the right kind of start as English pacer Jofra Archer induced an edge off Kiwi opener Rachin Ravindra in the fourth ball of the first over with a back-of-the-length delivery. Captain Gaikwad joined Rahul Tripathi in the middle, and the duo took CSK to 42 for 1 in the Powerplay.
Then started the Hasaranga show as the Sri Lankan took the next four CSK wickets with his beautiful leg-spin. Introduced in the eighth over, Hasaranga’s first spell read 3-0-28-3, and he ultimately completed his quota returning with 4-35 from the match.
Earlier, Nitish Rana scored a quickfire 81 off 36 balls to lead the Royals’ charge before the CSK bowlers made an excellent comeback to restrict the home side to 182 for nine wickets after 20 overs. When the former Kolkata Knight Riders captain was going all guns blazing, it looked like RR were all set to breach the 200-run mark, but some disciplined bowling in the middle overs helped the visitors to hold their hosts to a decent total in the end.
Homeboy and stand-in skipper Riyan Parag, who came in at No. 4 on Sunday, scored a good knock of 37 off 28 balls with two fours and sixes each. RR could have got the late push if his stumps were not rattled with an in-swinging yorker by Sri Lankan quick Matheesha Pathirana in the 18th over following a nasty blow to his right forearm in the previous ball. Riyan was hit hard and was on the deck for a minute to receive some treatment, but the incident might have broken his concentration a bit.
BRIEF SCORES: Rajasthan Royals 182/9 (N Rana 81, R Parag 37; Noor 2/28, Pathirana 2/28, Khaleel 2/38)
beat Chennai Super Kings 176/6 (R Gaikwad 63, R Jadeja 32*; Hasaranga 4/35).
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