Mehul Bhattacharya:
-Chennai:
188/9 in 20 overs
(du Plessis 33, Sakariya 3/36)
-Rajasthan:
143/9 in 20 overs
(Buttler 49, Moeen 3/7)
On Monday, Chennai Super Kings comfortably beat Rajasthan Royals by 45 runs at the Wankhede, registering their second win of the season in the process, in a match which saw good performances by bowlers on both sides here in the Indian Premier League (IPL 2021).
The first innings started off on a cracking note, with a boundary off the first ball by Ruturaj Gaikwad. This, however, couldn’t continue for long, as both the openers were dismissed within the powerplay. Faf du Plessis hit quite a few good shots, but his innings was brought to an end by Morris in the 6th over, pegging the score at 46/2 by the end of the powerplay. Moeen Ali departed next, lofting it to Parag in Tewatia’s first over. Chennai looked to push Rajasthan with the settled pair of Rayudu and Raina, however Sakariya claimed the wickets of both in the 14th over, leaving Chennai in a vulnerable state. Despite losing a slurry of wickets, Chennai managed to get themselves to a total of 188 for the loss of 9. For the Royals, Sakariya scalped 3, while Morris took 2 wickets.
The second innings seemed to have started off in smooth fashion for Rajasthan, however that soon changed with the departure of Vohra off Sam Curran. Sanju Samson departed next, with his wicket also being picked up by Sam Curran, meaning that the Royals stood at 45/2 at the end of the powerplay. Buttler looked to be the guiding light for the RR chase, but Jadeja struck a huge blow to their hopes, getting both Buttler and Dube out in the same over. Miller was sent back to the pavilion in the very next over, followed soon after by Parag and Morris, once again in the same over, putting RR in an even more precarious position. In the end, they couldn’t pull through, losing by a considerable margin of 45 runs. CSK saw significant bowling performances from Moeen Ali, Sam Curran and Jadeja, which got them the win in the end.