IPL 2020, Match 37, Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals - Rajasthan Royals won by 7 wickets
Monday, Oct 20, 2020, Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
The chances of making it to the play-offs for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are all but looking very much complex with their heart-breaking defeat to Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday (Oct 19) in Abu Dhabi. A poor batting display followed by a much poorer bowling performance made CSK concede a big 7-wicket victory to Rajasthan Royals!
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| Image Credits: IPL / BCCI |
Having opted to bat first, Chennai did not get going with the bat at any stage of their innings - not even in the death overs with wickets in hand! CSK's top-4 - Sam Curran (22 off 25), Faf du Plessis (10 off 9), Shane Watson (8 off 3) and Ambati Rayudu (13 off 19) - all departed cheaply! Later, MS Dhoni (28 off 28) and Ravindra Jadeja (35* off 30) shared a 51-run stand for the fifth wicket but Dhoni departed just when CSK were eyeing for some momentum with the bat!
Kedar Jadhav walked out to the middle in the 18th over and faced 7 deliveries for his 4 runs! They was no explosive start, no big middle-overs partnership and no super finish at the death. And CSK managed to score just 125/5 in their 20 overs. This is the lowest total for any team batting first in the ongoing IPL 2020 season! Among RR bowlers, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia and Kartik Tyagi all bagged a wicket each.
During the chase, RR fumbled at the start losing three quick wickets - Ben Stokes (19 off 11), Robin Uthappa (4 off 9) and Sanju Samson (0 off 3). However, Captain Steven Smith (26* off 34) and Jos Buttler (70* off 44) shared an unbeaten 98*-run partnership to drive RR to a comfortable 7-wicket victory with 2.3 overs to spare. Among CSK bowlers, Deepak Chahar (2/18 in 4 overs) and Josh Hazlewood (1/19 in 4 overs) were the wicket-takers.
Jos Buttler played a brilliant hand wit the bat in this victory driving RR to this crucial victory at this stage of the tournament. His unbeaten knock of 70* off 44 deliveries helped him bag the 'Player of the Match' award as well.
Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals - 126/3 in 17.3 overs (Jos Buttler - 70*, Steven Smith - 26*, Deepak Chahar - 2/18, Josh Hazlewood - 1/19) defeated Chennai Super Kings - 125/5 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja - 35, Mahendra Singh Dhoni - 28, Shreyas Gopal - 1/14, Rahul Tewatia - 1/18) by a margin of 7 wickets
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