A day after Chris Gayle’s maiden hundred in the 11th edition of the league, Shane Watson added another IPL century to the tally, courtesy, an excellent knock against the Rajasthan Royals on Friday.
Watson (106 runs, 57 balls) ensured that the Chennai Super Kings beat the Rajasthan Royals, and that did with a convincing margin of 64 runs. Ben Stokes top scored for the Rajasthan Royals, but his attempt was clearly not good enough. (45 off 37)
At their new home ground in Pune, the Chennai Super Kings scored a challenging total of 204 runs for the loss of 5 overs in 20 overs.
In response, the Rajasthan Royals bundled up for just 140 runs in 18.3 overs. This was Chennai’s third win in 4 matches and Rajasthan’s third defeat in 5 matches. This was Watson’s third hundred in IPL career and fourth in his T20 career. Apart from Watson, Suresh Raina also chipped in with a useful 46. For the Rajasthan Royals, Shreyas Gopal picked up 2 wickets.
After the water crisis in Tamil Nadu, all the Chennai Super Kings home matches would be played at the MCA stadium in Pune. After winning the toss, the Rajasthan Royals elected to field first, but were not good enough in front of a masterclass from Watson.
Watson along with Rayudu set the platform with a half century opening partnership. After Rayudu’s departure, Raina and Watson came together to join 81 runs and although wickets fell from the other end, Watson was dismissed only in the final over, in an attempt to score maximum runs, long after he had done the damage.
