Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Match 26 of the IPL 2019 between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Thursday.
It was a good bowling performance from the collective standpoint. Barring Tahir, who remained relatively economical, rest all chipped in with the wickets. Jadeja was the standout with his 2/20. The fielders was on it too as they backed their bowlers will with their athleticism, but that final over would make them feel a little disheartened. Still, despite that, it’s a good batting surface and Chennai will back themselves to chase this down. Let’s see how it goes.
It was mostly Chennai through the innings, but that last Shardul Thakur over, which went for 18 runs, could just be the psychological edge Rajasthan need in the second half of the game. The hosts got off a fast start with Buttler and Rahane firing away, but they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. After a point, the away side was on top, right up till the point where Thakur conceded 18 runs, with Gopal hitting the bulk of them.
Over 20: That’s big over for Rajasthna Royals and good finish for them. Sloppy from Shardul Thakur. 18 runs off it with Shreyas Gopal takes a four and a six. Jofra Archer adds another four and Rajasthan, surprisingly finish at a good 151/7. Also shows this isn’t that much of bowling track also. 151/7
Over 19: Deepak Chahar back for his final over and with a knuckle ball gets rid of he dangerous Ben Stokes. He is castled for 28. Onus on Jofra Archer now. But, Shreyas Gopal gets six off the over. 133/7
Over 18: Shardul Thakur comesback well and gives away eight runs in the over. With Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer in the middle, Rajasthan need both of them to fire. 125/6
Over 17: Ravindra Jadeja finishes even better. 4-0-20-2. His last over goes for just four runs. 117/6
Over 16: Imran Tahir finishes a fantastic spell. Even though his last over was a bit expensive with Ben Stokes finding a boundary, his figures read 4-0-28-0. 113/6
Over 15: And Riyan Parag departs. Edges one behind off Shardul Thakur. He goes for 16. RR 103/6
Over 14: Debutant Riyan Parag on fire. He is the third youngest player to make his IPL debut after Prayas Ray Barman and Mujeeb ur Rahman. Full toss and it has been put away! Good shot, pikced the spot nicely. On the pads, Riyan flicks it over the mid-wicket fielder. No one in the deep and a boundary. Much-needed one. Another FOUR! Could have easily been a caught and bowled. Tahir got wrong footed there. It is short and on middle, the ball seems to stop in the surface. Riyan looks to check his shot but till then the ball hits the bat. Goes to the right of Tahir who is moving to his left. The long on fielder too can’t stop it and it results in a boundary. Second in the over.
Over 13: Mitchell Santner on for his second dig and tat’s just four runs off it. 89/5
Over 12: Six singles off Imran Tahir’s second over. Rajasthan move to 85/5
Over 11: GONE! Steve Smith sweeps , but finds Ambati Rayudu in the deep. That’s wicket No. 100 for Ravindra Jadeja in the IPL. Rajasthan five down as Smith departs for 15. Five runs off it and a wicket. 79/5
Over 10: Imran Tahir in to the attack and that’s a three-run over. A lot riding on Steve Smith and Ben Stokes here for Rajasthan Royals. 74/4
Over 9: Rahul Tripathi gets a four of Ravindra Jadeja, but goes for an expansive drive next ball and he caught at backward point bu Kedar Jadhav. He puts in a juggle too. He looks to repeat what he did on the last ball, as he once again looks to hit it over covers. This time though there is a little turn on this one. It flies off the outside edge towards point. Jadhav there takes a couple of steps back and then stretches one hand up but the ball spills out. He though does really well to keep his eyes on the ball and take it on the second attempt. Rajasthan in trouble here. They need a partnership. RR 71/4
Over 8: Mitchell Santner with another good over. It’s the spin choke by Chennai Super Kings. Four singles and a double off it. 64/3
Over 7: Gone in 60 seconds! Ravindra Jadeja on now and fires in his first over in a jiffy. 4 singles off it. RR 58/3
Over 6: OH! Rajasthan losing way after such a fine start. Sanju Samson tries to take on Mitchell Santner and perishes in the deep. He goes for 6. Not sure what the Rajasthan batsmen are doing here. They are only looking to hit the boundaries. Samson falls in the attempt to do so. He goes for the slog sweep but due to the extra bounce Santner gets, a top edge is induced. It goes uppishly towards deep mid-wicket. The substitute Shorey there runs in and takes it not in the first, not in the second but in the third attempt. A much-needed wicket for Santner as this will boost his confidence which would have been low.RR 54/3
Over 5: Deepak Chahar with a tidy third over. Just five off it with steve Smith taking a four to get off the mark. 53/2
Over 4: Shardul Thakur in the first change and Jos Buttler greets him with three straight fours. But goes for one too many. Thakur has the last laugh. He has probably got Rajasthan’s best batsman. Buttler is guilty of playing one shot too many here. Having already got three boundaries in the over, not sure if this was needed. He once again goes for the audacious back foot slap over covers. This time though the ball hits the higher portion of the bat and lobs up in the air towards covers. Rayudu there settles under it and takes it with ease. So the runs are flowing but wickets too are falling. 48/2
Over 3: Deepak Chahar back for his second over and that’s a breakthrough. Ajinkya Rahane shuffles across and tries to whip the ball, but the delivery angles back in and huge appeal. Umpires turns down the appeal. Chahar convinces MS Dhoni to take the review and he has got that one right. 35/1
Over 2: Mitchell Santner with the new ball now and he has been taken for 14 runs. Two back-to-back fours by Ajinkya Rahane. 25/0
Over 1: Superb start by Jos Buttler. He takes on Deepak Chahar. He is off the mark with a four towards midwicket and then went on the backfoot to hoist on over the bowler’s head for a six. 11/0
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Jos Buttler(w), Steven Smith, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni
TOSS: Chennai Super Kings win toss and elect to bowl first against Rajasthan Royals. Sanju Samson returns for Rajasthan Royals, so does Jaydev Unadkat and a debut for Assam’s Riyan Parag, a former India U19 star as well. For Chennai, Scott Kuggeleijn and Harbhajan Singh miss out. In come Shardul Thakur and Mitchell Santner.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Match 25 of the IPL 2019 between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on Thursday.
PREVIEW:
Rajasthan Royals have lost four of their five matches so far and sit at the seventh spot in the IPL points tally among eight participating teams. Chennai Super Kings have won five of their six matches with one defeat and are at the top of the standings. The two teams will face off in a mismatch of sorts. On current form, this should be a cakewalk for CSK.
But RR would fancy their chances given how close they came to beating CSK in their first meeting last month when they lost by eight runs in a tough chase of 176.
Despite their struggles, RR can hope to match them. For starters, it will be played on their home turf. Playing at home can be a massive advantage as CSK have proven with their unbeaten track thus far at Chepauk. RR can turn their own den into a fortress, provided they take some learnings from their latest opponents.
RR have shown promises in their defeats too but failed to translate them into wins. Their only win has come against fellow laggards Royal Challengers Bangalore. What can they do to stop CSK juggernaut? Bat better.
On bowling friendly tracks, especially those assisting spinners, Chennai have been a step above everyone. Rewind to their clash against Delhi Capitals at Feroz Shah Kotla earlier or just to the Monday night meeting with Kolkata Knight Riders. Their spinners have strangled their opponents. Spin has obviously been their biggest weapon. Their pace department looked a bit shaky which seems to have sorted itself out since the arrival of Scott Kuggeleijn and an in-form Deepak Chahar.
Their batters have shown sensible approach on difficult wickets. Give them one full of runs and expect the likes of Shane Watson, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni to explode.
To RR credits, they do have a decent attack. Shreyas Gopal has been leading their attack, bamboozling the best but has found little to no support from others. In their last match at home against KKR, RR batsmen struggled indicating a difficult pitch before the visitors threw those observations out of the window with a blazing chase.
Clearly, they are now struggling. Their captain Ajinkya Rahane may have put up a brave face in saying to not panic yet but one more defeat and their campaign might be as good as over.
