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Ranchi: Chennai Super Kings continued with their winning ways in Pepsi IPL 2014 by beating the Rajasthan Royals by five wickets in a last-over finish at Ranchi with two balls to spare on Tuesday.
Initially, led by Dwayne Smith's initial boost and Faf du Plessis' innings-stabilising knock, CSK were taken across the line by the ever-dependable MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja while chasing the 149-run target.
Earlier, RR elected to bat first upon winning the toss. Skipper Shane Watson and Ankit Sharma opened the innings for the hosts. This combination worked out for RR as they gave the team a steady start. They took the score to the 50-run mark in the seventh over.
However, R Ashwin finally got rid of Ankit Sharma (30) in the eighth over with the RR score on 60. And while Watson brought up his half-century, Ajinkya Rahane (4) – the new man in – could not make a substantial contribution to the total; he was run-out in the 11th over.
Watson (51) perished in the 13th over, when Mohit Sharma bowled him out. A short while later, Karun Nair (8) was also bowled out; Samuel Badree claimed his scalp to leave RR on 114 for four. Steve Smith (9) and James Faulkner (1), whose heroics saw their team through a couple of nights ago against RCB, failed to make a big impact with the bat today. While the former was cleaned up by Mohit Sharma, the latter suffered the same fate against Ravindra Jadeja a few balls later.
RR then lost Stuart Binny (22); he holed out to Faf du Plessis off the bowling of Jadeja. Dishant Yagnik (4*) and Rajat Bhatia (7) then added 11 runs, before the latter became Mohit Sharma's third victim. Thanks to some tidy bowling from the CSK's frontline bowlers, RR were restricted to 148 for eight in their 20 overs.
Mohit Sharma (3-31) was the pick of the CSK bowlers, while Jadeja (2-18) and Badree (1-19) also helped in making regular dents in the RR line-up.
In modest chase, CSK's trusted opening pair of Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum started in an aggressive manner. They added 20 runs in quick time, before Ankit Sharma got rid of McCullum (6) in the third over.
Suresh Raina (2) came to bat at one-down, but even he was dismissed by Ankit Sharma, leaving CSK on 41 for two in 4.2 overs. Dwayne Smith (44), however, rallied on as he took the CSK score past 50 in the seventh over. He added 35 runs with du Plessis for the third over, before he was stumped off the bowling of Kevon Cooper.
At 76 for three in 10 overs, CSK unexpectedly sent Ashwin to bat at No.5. While du Plessis stabilised the run-chase, Ashwin (14) played the supporting role in what was turning out to be a tight game. The pair added 29 runs, before Bhatia bowled Ashwin out in the 15th over.
After Ashwin, CSK skipper had added 12 runs with du Plessis (37), when the South African batter was cleaned up by Faulkner.
When Ravindra Jadeja joined his skipper in the middle, the run-chase equation read 28 runs off 15 balls. Jadeja (11*) stepped up to the plate and struck a maximum to bring the run-chase equation to 17 runs off nine balls.
After a single was scored off the first ball, Dhoni (26*) did what he does best – broke the tension of the run-chase by striking a big one. The home team eventually got over the line with five wickets in hand and two balls to spare.
Earlier, CSK have made one change -- giving an IPL debut to batsman Vijay Shankar and dropping Mithun Manhas, who has failed to have an impact so far.
Royals have made three changes -- dropped Sanju Samson, Kane Richardson and Rahul Tewatia, and brought in wicketkeeper Dishant Yagnik, Trinidad & Tobago allrounder Kevon Cooper and left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma.
Teams
Chennai: Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (Capt. & wk), Faf du Plessis, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Ishwar Pandey, Samuel Badree
Rajasthan: Ajinkya Rahane, Karun Nair, Shane Watson (Capt.), Dishant Yagnik (wk), Stuart Binny, Steven Smith, Kevon Cooper, James Faulkner, Pravin Tambe, Rajat Bhatia, Ankit Sharma
Brief scores
Rajasthan Royals - 148/8 (Watson 51, Ankit Sharma 30, Mohit Sharma 3-31)
Chennai Super Kings - 149/5 (Smith 44, du Plessis 38)
Result - Chennai Super Kings won by 5 wickets
Points - Chennai Super Kings 2, Rajasthan Royals 0
