Rajasthan survive MSD scare to go top of the table

IPL 2023 served up another last-ball cracker as the Rajasthan Royals beat the Chennai Super Kings by three runs in a nail-biting finish at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday. Playing in his 200th match as captain for CSK, MS Dhoni nearly pulled off another sensational heist in a run chase. The veteran keeper almost took Chennai over the line from an improbable position with his 17-ball 32 but was eventually thwarted by a perfect Sandeep Sharma yorker off the final delivery, giving the Royals their third win of the season to take them above Lucknow to the top of the points table.

Chasing 176, CSK lost Ruturaj Gaikwad to a rare failure in the third over, but Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane kept the runs flowing to maximise the field restrictions. Fresh of a lightning half-century against Mumbai, Rahane got off to another quick start as he pulled Holder through the covers and launched Ashwin down the ground for six.

Rahane and Conway added 68 runs for the second wicket to keep the chase going, but the experienced RR spin trio of Ashwin, Chahal and Zampa turned the tide through the middle with regular breakthroughs. Ashwin dismissed Rahane for 31 and trapped Shivam Dube on his pads with one that skidded through, while Chahal removed Rayudu and Conway in the same over, leaving CSK reeling at 113 for 6 with five overs remaining.

Dhoni and Jadeja played out the final two overs from Ashwin and Jadeja as the last recognised batting pair, but started their charge in the 18th over against Zampa, with Dhoni clubbing the spinner for two boundaries. With 40 needed off 12 balls, Ravindra Jadeja targeted Jason Holder, creaming the pacer for a four and two sixes to set up a grandstand finish. Sandeep Sharma showed his nerves in the final over, bowling two wides and a pair of full tosses that Dhoni dispatched for six, but the seamer nailed his yorkers with seven needed off three balls to take RR over the line by the barest of margins.

Earlier, Rajasthan managed to post a respectable score of 175 thanks to another half-century from Jos Buttler and some vital contributions from the middle order. Playing in his first game this season, Maheesh Theekshana leaked runs at the top of the order, conceding 27 in his two powerplay overs, while Jos Buttler creamed Moeen Ali for two sixes in his opening over to take RR to 86 for 1 in eight.

An excellent spell of 2 for 21 from Ravindra Jadeja pulled things back for CSK through the middle, but Rajasthan recovered nicely at the death to post what ended up being a winning total. Promoted to number five, Ashwin played a handy knock of 30 from 22, while Shimron Hetmyer struck some timely blows in the final few overs to take the Royals to 175 for 8.