New Delhi:
Rajasthan Royals lock horns with high-flying Chennai Super Kings at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur in the Indian Premier League 2018. The Ajinkya Rahane-led RR are struggling to pick their form with majority of their players going through a poor patch of form, whereas MS Dhoni-led CSK are hitting the correct chords at the right time.
RR will be looking to revive some form and winning all of their games to make a solid play-off contentions, while CSK need just two wins for that.
Interesting Fact: Raina vs RR: Raina has scored the most runs against RR than any other player - 517 runs from 18 innings.
Highlights:
# Buttler - Mab of the Match: Especially in the IPL, haven't quite hit my straps. Tonight to get my side home, it's always special to be not out in the end. As we've seen, the wicket plays really well in the first six. Just trying to capitalize on that. Couldn't quite get it away, had quite a bit of luck. Dwayne Bravo is one of the best in the world, but you always get the feeling that it's about two hits. Relatively big ground here too, so can take twos. Special to perform with my family here. We've kept ourselves in the competition.
# Rahane - RR captain: As I always mention, this format is always about giving your best everyday. Buttler's consistent batting at the top is magnificent. KG's knock was crucial. I was nervous, but sometimes you have to control your emotions as a captain and we all had a feeling that Buttler will take us through. The way he handled the spinners was too good. He's learning a lot, spending time with the experienced players and Warnie. Would like to thank Rajasthan Royals and Rajasthan government for supporting this initiative with cancer patients.
# Dhoni - CSK captain: I think it is the bowling. We had to bowl one particular length and the bowlers were instructed on what they need to bowl and where they need to bowl. That back of the length was a difficult one to hit. We at least got hit 4-5 boundaries off full length. What really happens is once you are told what to bowl, you need to be bowling to that area. They need to commit and execute. It is not the planning but the execution that goes haywire. That was a par score or a par plus score. I think the bowlers let us down to some extent
# Rajasthan Royals win by 4 wickets and its all on Jos Buttler's powerful knock! Splendid innings!!
# 19.5 Overs: Buttler and Archer ran for two and made it easily.
# After 16 Overs, RR are 131/4
# 14.3 Overs: FOUR! Stuart Binny slaps the ball towards backwards point! RR 121/4
# 12.4 Overs: OUT! Straight to the fielder..Chopra c Dwayne Bravo b SN Thakur 8(6) RR 109/4
# 11.5 Overs: FOUR! First boundary for the debutant Prashant Chopra! RR 104/3
# 11.2 Overs: OUT! Run out! Samson is way short there, complete mess between the two..Samson run out (Raina/Dwayne Bravo) 21(22) RR 99/3
# After 11 Overs RR are 99/2
# After 9 Overs RR 85/2
# After 8 Overs RR are 78/2
# 6.4 Overs: FOUR! Buttler is continuing his natural game. RR 66/2
# 4.4 Overs: OUT! Rahane walks back and the slip there worked for Jadeja..Rahane c Raina b Jadeja 4(3) RR 53/2
# 3.6 Overs: OUT! Cleaned bowled! Stokes is angry on himself. Stokes b Harbhajan 11(7) RR 48/1
# 3.5 Overs: SIX! Whacked away by Stokes. RR 48/0
# 3.4 Overs: FOUR! Inside edge and the ball races to the boundary line. RR 42/0
# After 3 Overs, RR are 33/0
# After 2 overs, RR are 27/0
# Rajasthan Royals need 177 runs to win! Could be a tricky chase given the state of the pitch.
# After 20 overs CSK are 176/4
# After 15 Overs CSK are 127/3
# 11.3 Overs: OUT! Watson goes back to the hut..Watson c Buttler b Jofra Archer 39(31) CSK 105/2
# 9.3 Overs: SIX! Watson with his favourite pull shot! Whacked away..CSK 87/1
# 8.3 Overs: SIX! Typical Raina shot over mid wicket. CSK 77/1
# 8.1 Overs: SIX! Raina goes big!!! CSK 70/1
# After 6 Overs CSK are 55/1
# 4.4 Overs: FOUR! Raina smacks its clears the 30 yard circle easily. CSK 48/1
# After 4 overs CSK are 41/1
# 3.3 Overs: FOUR! Raina finds the gap perfectly. CSK 38/1
# 3.2 Overs: FOUR! Pure timing by Raina. CSK 34/1
# After 3 Overs CSK are 30/1
# 2.3 Overs: FOUR! Slashed away by Raina. CSK 29/1
# 2.2 Overs: FOUR! Beautifully played by Raina. CSK 23/1
# 2.1 Overs: OUT! Bowled 'em! Archer strikes on his first ball! Rayudu b Jofra Archer 12(9) CSK 19/1
# After 2 Overs CSK are 19/0
# Rayudu and Watson are at the crease to open it for CSK!
# Rahane: It is for all the people in Rajasthan to go out there and get a health check up every six months. It is a great position and we have to win four out of four. We know CSK is a good team and it is all about giving our best.
# Dhoni: We will bat first. We had a high committee meeting and the coach said we should bat first.
# Chennai Super Kings have won the toss and have opted to bat
# PITCH REPORT: "I believe both teams will look to spin to win it. There are cracks on the pitch and no grass at all. The surface will get slower as the match goes on. The captain will look to bat first and then use the spinners along with the long boundaries. 160 should be a par score," says Michael Clarke.
CSK Probable XI: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Dhruv Shorey, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, David Willey, Harbhajan Singh, Lungi Ngidi, Shardul Thakur
RR Probable XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Mahipal Lomror, Stuart Binny/Rahul Tripathi, K Gowtham, Ish Sodhi, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Anureet Singh/Dhawal Kulkarni
