Chennai: CSK and RR are clashing at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. Both teams have won two games apiece and a win today will take them to the top of the table. Chennai won the toss and opted to bowl. Tushar Deshpande gave CSK a decent start as he dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal early. Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal stabilised the innings.
Dhoni introduced Maheesh Theekshana in the 5th over and he created an opportunity straightaway, getting the edge of Devdutt Padikkal. However, Moeen Ali failed to grab the opportunity. Buttler then added salt to the wounds of CSK fans, hitting Theekshana for a six on the next ball. The drop catch opened the floodgates as Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal went bersek, hitting one six and four 4s in the next seven balls. RR are 54-1 in 5.3 overs at the time of writing.
Moeen Ali drops Devdutt Paddikal. Might be a costly drop it seems. #CSKvsRR pic.twitter.com/qIVQ5ckKEC
— Himanshu Pareek (@Sports_Himanshu) April 12, 2023
“We will bowl first. It may be slightly on the slower side, different from the first game. Dew may play a role and it might get better in the second innings. (On his 200th game as CSK captain in the IPL) It feels good and also I feel the crowd has been fantastic. Also, the fact that we started in the old stadium, it was very hot and humid. But now it feels like we’re playing in Switzerland. It’s good to play. We have seen cricket change – how T20 was played at that point of time till now, a lot has changed. The crowd has been fantastic. We have had injury concerns and players were unavailable, but still we have done well. Mitchell Santner and Pretorius make way for Theekshana and Moeen,” said MS Dhoni at the toss.
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Sisanda Magala, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh
