Rajasthan hold nerve to go top of the table

Rajasthan Royals held their nerves to beat Chennai Super Kings by a narrow three run margin at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Wednesday, to go to the top of the table in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season.

Asked to bat Rajasthan posted 175 for eight in their 20 overs and in their response Chennai finished on 172 for six in their 20 overs.

Earlier, Rajasthan was well served by a 78 run second wicket stand between Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal. But after Padikkal fell, there was a collapse. The innings went from 88 for one to 88 for three. Then Buttler added 47 runs for the fourth wicket with Ravichandran Ashwin. Buttler finished on 52 off 36 balls with one boundary and three sixes. Ashwin made 30 off 22 balls. Towards the end Shimron Hetmyer remained unbeaten on 30 off 18 balls with two boundaries and two sixes. Rajasthan finished on 175 for eight in their 20 overs. For Chennai the best bowlers were Akash Singh (2-40), Tushar Deshpande (2-37) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-21).

In their response Chennai rode on the 68 run second wicket stand between Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane. After Rahane fell there was a collapse. Chennai went from being 78 for one to 113 for six. Conway was left stranded before he fell for 50 off 38 balls with six boundaries. Then there was a revival as skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja added an unbroken 59 runs for the seventh wicket. Jadeja remained unbeaten on 25 off 15 balls, while Dhoni made 32 runs off 17 balls. Chennai needed 21 off the last over. They almost made it, but Chennai fell short by three runs to finish on 172 for six in their 20 overs. For Rajasthan the two best bowlers were Ashwin (2-25) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2-27).

Match Summary

Rajasthan Royals: 175-8 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-11 (Yashasvi Jaiswal-1.4 ov), 2-88 (Devdutt Padikkal-8.3 ov), 3-88 (Sanju Samson-8.5 ov), 4-135 (Ravichandran Ashwin-14.6 ov), 5-142 (Jos Buttler-16.2 ov), 6-167 (Dhruv Jurel-18.6 ov), 7-174 (Jason Holder-19.5 ov), 8-175 (Adam Zampa-19.6 ov)

Chennai Super Kings: 172-6 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-10 (Ruturaj Gaikwad-2.2 ov), 2-78 (Ajinkya Rahane-9.3 ov), 3-92 (Shivam Dube-11.4 ov), 4-102 (Moeen Ali-13.5 ov), 5-103 (Ambati Rayudu-14.1 ov), 6-113 (Devon Conway-14.6 ov)

Playing XIs

Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (captain & wicket-keeper), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal; Subs: Riyan Parag, KM Asif, Donovan Ferreira, Adam Zampa, Joe Root

Impact player: Adam Zampa for Jos Buttler (1st innings, 19.5 ov)

Chennai Super Kings: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (captain & wicket-keeper), Sisanda Magala, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Akash Singh; Subs: Ambati Rayudu, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Rajvardhan Hangargekar

Impact player: Ambati Rayudu for Sisanda Magala (2nd innings, 13.5 ov)

Match Details
Toss: Chennai Super Kings, elected to field
Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
Start time: 1400 hrs GMT
Match officials: Vinod Seshan, Virender Sharma (On-field Umpires); Nitin Menon (TV Umpire); Abhijit Bengeri (Reserve Umpire); Javagal Srinath (Match-referee)