Chennai: Chennai Super Kings registered their third consecutive victory in the ongoing 12th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) as they thrashed Rajasthan Royals by 8 runs here on Sunday. Chasing a total of 176, Rajasthan had a substandard beginning as they gave away three wickets swiftly on just 14 runs. Steve Smith and Rahul Tripathi then provided succour to Rajasthan by forming a 61-run partnership giving the host a bit of relief after a puny start. Both the players later became victims of Imran Tahir.
Ben Stokes and Krishnappa Gowtham then came out to bat but Gowtham too was sent back to the pavilion quickly, bringing Jofra Archer to the field. Both the players played some stormy shots which brought the match to a stage where Rajasthan needed 12 runs off 6 balls. Bravo bowled a stunning spell restricting the hosts to 167 runs helping his side win the match by 8 runs.
Earlier, Rajasthan won the toss and decided to bowl first. Chennai came to bat but espied a very quick blow in the name of Ambati Rayudu. Suresh Raina, then joined Shane Watson but not for long as Watson too was sent back to the pavilion by Ben Stokes. Kedar Jadhav came out to bat but was immediately dismissed by Dhawal Kulkarni. Then Chennai’s skipper MS Dhoni formed a decent partnership with Raina and both added 61 runs to the scoreboard before Jaydev Unadkat dismissed Raina.
Dhoni remained constant on the on-end and then formed a partnership with Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja of 56 and 31 runs respectively. Dhoni smashed three sixes off last three deliveries of the innings and scored 75 runs off just 46 balls helping his team post a target of 176 for the visitors.
Rajasthan will now host Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 2 while Chennai will be hosted by Mumbai Indians on April 3.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 175/5 (MS Dhoni: 75*, Suresh Raina: 36, Jofra Archer: 2-17) beats Rajasthan Royals 167/8 (Ben Stokes: 46, Rahul Tripathi: 39, Deepak Chahar: 2-19) by 8 runs.
