Chennai Super Kings closed out their home engagements in the group phase of the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League with a 5-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday to move up to third in the table.
CSK managed to limit RR to a score of 141 runs for the loss of five wickets in 20 overs as Simarjeet Singh starred with a three-fer, before going on to chase down the target in 18.2 overs with 5 wickets to spare as captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s unbeaten 42-run knock anchored the hosts to victory.
Chennai’s final home game of the season exemplified the city’s craze for its prodigal son MS Dhoni as special tifos that featured the former skipper’s likeness captioned with pop-culture lines such as ‘Thala Pola Varuma?’ and ‘Yellorukum Thanks’ were unfurled in the stands. The side had also requested their faithful to stay back after the conclusion of the game through their social media account for a special tribute.
RR skipper Sanju Samson claimed the toss and opted to put the home side on the field first in the sweltering Chennai heat. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Butler opened the innings for the visitors as the right-hand, left-hand pair made 42 runs in the powerplay overs.
Pacer Simarjeet Singh broke the opening stand as Jaiswal was caught by home captain Ruturaj Gaikwad on 24 in the seventh over before the seamer doubled his tally with the scalp of Englishman Butler in the ninth over for 21.
Samson was the third wicket to fall, after having scored 15 runs, as his counterpart Gaikwad held onto the catch offered up by the Kerala-native to give Simarjeet his three-wicket haul before RR could reach the triple-digit mark.
Dhruv Jurel brought up the 100-run mark for RR with an astounding maximum on the leg side. It went on to add 28 runs to the Rajasthan scorecard before succumbing to Tushar Deshpande, who also managed to dismiss southpaw Shubam Dubey for a golden duck in the very next delivery.
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Riyan Parag, who was dropped on 15 by Maheesh Theekshana, finished unbeaten at 47 at the end of the innings accompanied by hometown boy in opposition colours Ravichandran Ashwin, who added a solitary run in the final over to help RR post a total of 141 for the loss of half their side.
Chennai opened the chase with Gaikwad and Rachin Ravindra as the pair put up a 32-run stand for the first wicket before the Kiwi had to depart the crease with Ashwin picking up the scalp of the southpaw through a caught and bowled effort. Ravindra, who added 27 runs to the team’s cause before his fall was replaced by compatriot Daryl Mitchell, who scored 22 off 13 deliveries including 4 boundaries. Mitchell was trapped in front of the wicket by Yuzvendra Chahal to bring Moeen Ali to the middle.
The Englishman chipped in with 10 runs before South African pacer Nandre Burger scalped the southpaw, as Shivam Dube walked in to take crease.
At the other end, Gaikwad’s measured inning anchored the Chennai chase as the captain held his side of the bargain with efficiency negotiating well with the RR bowling attack. Dube seemed to have found his mojo and dispatched Ashwin’s deliveries past the advertisement hoardings thrice, a six and two fours, to get CSK into triple figures. But the veteran spinner got back at the southpaw as he scalped him for 18 runs on his final delivery of the day.
Star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was asked to walk back to the hut after scoring 5 runs for an obstruction of the field as impact player Samir Rizvi took his place across his skipper. The young batter pulled the hosts closer to the finish line with a couple of boundaries which reduced the equation to single digits in terms of the runs required. Rizvi closed out the game with a couple of boundaries in the penultimate over to send the home crowd into a loud roar to commemorate their 50th home win.
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