Rajasthan trounce Chennai to go top of the table

The Rajasthan Royals ended their two-game losing streak in the IPL with their impressive 32-run victory over the Chennai Super Kings in Jaipur on Thursday night. Sanju Samson’s side produced a complete performance with bat and ball, scoring 202 for 5 batting first on the back of Yashasvi Jaiswal’s superb 77 before Adam Zampa bagged three wickets to derail CSK in the run chase.

The Royals completed the double over the Super Kings this season with the victory and also leapfrogged Chennai to return to the top of the table, with five wins in eight matches.

Having won the toss and elected to bat, Rajasthan got off to another fast start in the powerplay through their openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler. The left-hander went after his 2020 U-19 World Cup team-mate Akash Singh, creaming the pacer for seven boundaries in his first two overs with the new ball, taking Rajasthan to 42 after three overs.

Buttler, meanwhile, cracked Tushar Deshpande for two fours and creamed Theekshana for two boundaries over his head, giving the Royals a strong footing to end the powerplay. Ravindra Jadeja broke the 86-run opening stand with the wicket of Buttler for 27, but Jaiswal marched on. The left-hander got to a 26-ball half-century and lofted Moeen Ali for six to keep the momentum going.

After conceding 125 in 13 overs, CSK pulled things back nicely with Desphande removing Samson and Jaiswal in the same over and Theekshana accounting for Hetmyer for eight. However, despite the brief lull, the Royals still managed to post the highest IPL score at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium as Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal combined at the death. The pair struck some timely blows, helping the Royals score 49 runs in the final three overs to finish on 202 for 5.

In response, Chennai struggled to match Rajasthan’s strong start in the powerplay. Devon Conway couldn’t find his timing and smashed Zampa straight to mid-off for a 16-ball 8. His partner Ruturaj Gaikwad fared better to begin with but couldn’t accelerate through the middle overs, eventually holing out to long-on against Zampa in the 10^th over for 47.

Ashwin added to CSK’s misery with two quick wickets in the 11^th, but CSK threatened a fightback through Moeen Ali and Shivam Dube. With 130 needed off nine overs, the duo added a swift half-century stand to liven up the contest. However, Zampa returned to kill the game off for the Royals, removing Moeen with a googly. Dube got to his third half-century of the season to keep CSK alive, but the left-hander was left with too much to do as Rajasthan emerged victorious by a comfortable margin of 32 runs.