Opener's 43-ball 77, Zampa & Ashwin's wickets make the difference in 32-run win over Super Kings
JAIPUR: In the last couple of matches, Rajasthan Royals faced close defeats while chasing, which might have prompted Sanju Samson to bat first after winning the toss against the Chennai Super Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Thursday.
Samson's decision was justified by their batters as the Royals amassed 202/5 in this crucial IPL match in front of a jam-packed SMS stadium. The Royals bowlers then bowled their hearts out to restrict formidable CSK to 170/6 to register a thumping 32-run victory.
With this fifth win, Royals regained their top position in the points tally with 10 points. It was the second successive win for Royals against four-time champions CSK this season.
Yashasvi Jaiswal underlined the fact that he is one of the most improved left-handed batters in the country with yet another sparkling knock at the top of the innings. The 21-year-old southpaw smashed 77 off just 43 balls at an impressive strike rate of 180. His attacking innings consisted of eight fours and four towering sixes which helped RR get off to a flying start. It was Jaiswal's third fifty this season.
1/10:IPL 2023: Rajasthan Royals beat Chennai Super Kings to go top
IANS
2/10:Yashasvi Jaiswal
<p>Yashasvi Jaiswal blasted Rajasthan Royals back to winning ways over Chennai Super Kings to leapfrog MS Dhoni's men at the top of the table on Thursday. </p>IANS
3/10:CSK 32 short
<p>Jaiswal blasted 77 off 43 balls to power Royals to 202/5 and CSK fell 32 runs short thanks to five wickets between Adam Zampa and Ravichandran Ashwin. </p>IANS
4/10:Power-packed powerplay
<p>Jaiswal hit three fours in the first over and then another 18 runs in the third as he and Jos Buttler racked up 64 in the powerplay. </p>IANS
5/10:Jos Buttler
<p>Buttler fell to Ravindra Jadeja for an uncharacteristically sedate 27 off 21 balls before Royals skipper Sanju Samson departed for 17. </p>AFP
6/10:Jaiswal 77
<p>But Jaiswal reached 50 off 26 balls and hitting four sixes and eight fours before falling for 77 to give Tushar Deshpande his second wicket. </p>PTI
7/10:200 crossed
<p>Shimron Hetmyer fell for 8 but Dhruv Jurel (34) and Devdutt Padikkal (27) took Royals over the 200-run mark for the first time at their home ground. </p>PTI
8/10:Ruturaj Gaikwad
<p>Ruturaj Gaikwad provided a quick start despite losing his partner Devon Conway early, hitting 47 off 29 balls as CSK scored 42 runs in the powerplay. </p>AFP
9/10:Adam Zampa
<p>Zampa took 3/22 including the wickets of Conway and Gaikwad who top-edged the Australian to long-on for 47. </p>IANS
10/10:Ravichandran Ashwin
<p>Ashwin struck twice in 3 balls with both Ajinkya Rahane (15) and impact player Ambati Rayudu, out for a two-ball duck, holing out on the boundary. </p>IANSChasing the daunting target of 203, CSK began slowly with just 13 runs after three overs. After that poor start, CSK always struggled despite stiff resistance from Shivam Dube and Ruturaj Gaikwad.
The spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Adam Zampa and Yuzvendra Chahal did the trick for RR, ably supported by Sandeep Sharma. Both Ashwin and Zampa were introduced in the Powerplay by Samson and the duo did not disappoint. Zampa provided a breakthrough straightway in his first over by scalping Conway, who hit straight to Sandeep Sharma at mid-off.
Rahane was dropped by substitute Riyan Parag at long-off off Ashwin but the veteran batter did not capitalise on it. Zampa struck again in his second over as the leggie got rid of the dangerous-looking Gaikwad, with Padikkal taking a well-judged catch at long-off.
With the asking rate increasing, Rahane departed while trying to hit Ashwin out of the park. Impact player Ambati Rayudu also perished in the same way, without troubling the scorer.
Earlier, Jaiswal and Jos Buttler provided a solid foundation with an 86-run partnership for the first wicket at a rapid pace. The left-right combination sent new-ball bowlers of CSK Akash Singh and Tushar Deshpande to the cleaners initially as RR raced to 42 after just 3 overs, setting the tone.
