Chennai Super Kings with the help of a late assault defeated Rajasthan Royals and moved up to number four in the points table. Both the teams entered the match in a desperate need for two points and it was the defending champions CSK who held their nerves better and came out victorious.
MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first in a rain affected match, the opening bowlers backed their captain’s decision and put a strangle hold on the Rajasthan top order. They bowled a tight line and length and restricted Royals to a score of 126. Chennai would have fancied their chances but their negative approach put them in a losing position. In the end it was the efforts of their late middle order batsmen who saw their team home.
Here are some of the hits and flops from both innings.
Rajasthan Royals:
Hits:
Stuart Binny: He was promoted up in the batting line-up and he ensured that the move did not back fired. Binny scored 18 runs of one Bravo over and provided the momentum to the Royals innings. He scored 27 runs at a strike of 150. He hit one six and three boundaries in his innings.
Brad Hodge: He came in to bat when Royals were in a desperate need of a partnership. Hodge started the innings slowly and tackled the fiery looking Chennai bowlers. He set up the base for the late exploit and did well in the closing overs. It was his efforts that took Royals past the 120 mark.
Siddharth Trivedi: He has been one consistent performer for Royals in all the five IPL seasons. Trivedi once again bowled with tremendous control and swung the ball dangerously. He took two important wickets of Bravo and Dhoni. In his four overs he conceded only 18 wickets.
Flops:
Top Order: The Royals opening partnership has been the best in the tournament but they have been struggling from the past two matches. They once again failed in the swinging condition and handed Chennai the advantage. Last match hero Watson played a rash shot to get out and that was the main reason why Rajasthan could only manage 12 odd runs.
Death over bowling: Rajasthan were in a brilliant position at the end of the 16th over and were in a winning position. Pankaj Singh bowled the 17th over and despite taking the wicket of Jadeja conceded far too many runs for RR’s liking. Watson who is good in death overs conceded 18 runs in his 18th over. Chennai needed 12 runs in two overs and Tait conceded those runs in just one delivery of the 19th over.
Chennai Super Kings:
Hits:
Ben Hilfenhaus: Hilfenhaus conceded 14 runs in three balls and was the reason why Chennai lost against Mumbai Indians. He made things even with his superb swing bowling against RR. Hilfenhaus conceded only eight runs in four overs and took two important wickets of Dravid and Watson.
Partnership between Morkel and A Anirudha: Things were looking bleak for CSK but these two men changed the equation with their fierce hitting. Both players hit 18 runs of just six deliveries and took Chennai home with 11 balls to spare.
Flops:
MS Dhoni: Dhoni has been struggling in the competition and he once again failed against Royals. He once again did that with an innings of 10 runs in 16 balls. Chennai were in desperate needs of some quick runs and their captain didn’t help their cause as he struggled to time the ball and failed to rotate the strike.
Dwayne Bravo: Bravo failed with both bat and bowl in the match. He gave away 38 runs in the three overs that he bowled and when it was his turn to bat he failed to score some quick runs. He consumed 15 deliveries for his 10 runs.
By Gaurav Jha
Indian Sports News
