Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals: Match Report

Both teams arrived at Chepauk with 2 wins and a loss under their belt but the Royals had only won once at Chepauk in IPL history. This solitary win came 15 years in the first IPL season. With Rajasthan’s strong spin attack against Chennai’s formidable win percentage at home, this match was set up to be a thriller. For the second game in a row, Dhoni won the toss and chose to chase.

Royals’ Top Order Too Good

Buttler and Jaiswal have combined for 339 runs in 4 innings (tied most for an opening partnership with RCB). Usually, in a T20 opening partnership, one player will anchor the innings whilst the other one goes for it. However, this was not the case this season until Jaiswal played one too many shots off Deshpande and skied the ball straight to Dube at mid-off. Buttler’s 52 off 36 was one of his slower innings yet it still contained plenty of firepower as he cleared the rope 3 times.

Padikkal had been struggling for form in the IPL as he has not crossed 50 once in the past 12 innings. Whilst this streak continues to 13, Padikkal came out with a newer, more positive mindset and went after Theekshana.

Royals’ Middle Order, a Tale of Two Halves

After a short stay at the crease for Samson, removed by a beauty off Jadeja, Ashwin strode out at number 4, the only position he hadn’t batted in the IPL before from 1–10. He started slowly, including being dropped first ball, however, he soon went after Akash Singh, taking him over midwicket for six in consecutive balls. Singh got the last laugh by dragging his length back and Ashwin skied it straight up.

Ashwin was followed by Hetmyer, one of the best finishers in recent history. His quickfire 30 off 18 balls, gave the Royals' innings the boost they needed to give the bowlers something to defend. However, he had no support as Jurel, Holder, and Zampa combined for 5 runs off 8 balls.

Gaikwad Hits a Dead End

Gaikwad came into the match, averaging 94.5 but Sandeep Sharma and Kuldeep Sen frustrated him early. Eventually, he went searching for a flick shot that was never there to be played and was caught in the covers.

Gaikwad’s early wicket forced Conway to drop the anchor straight away although he never really looked like he would accelerate. His 50 off 38 gave CSK a fighting chance and made sure someone stayed at the crease whilst the middle order collapsed but in the end, his efforts were in vain.

CSK’s Middle Order Misfire (again)

Rahane continued his excellent form, timing it well from ball one, but a poor, predetermined sweep off Ashwin led to his demise. After that, the floodgates opened and the wickets tumbled.

First to go was Dube, with another painfully slow inning of 8 off 9. He was given out LBW but the review showed the ball to be missing leg. Perhaps a blessing in disguise for CSK. Next to go was Moeen Ali who was dismissed with 7 runs to his name off 10 balls. He was swiftly followed by Impact Player, Ambati Rayudu, who mistimed a pull shot straight to deep midwicket. Hope was all but lost until…

Dhoni and Jadeja Save the Day (almost)

With 54 off 18 needed, there are not many partnerships in the world that would still keep the bowling side worried. Dhoni and Jadeja have been there and done it multiple times, yet this time they had been left with too much and fell 3 runs short.

They didn’t leave without stamping their mark, however. The 18th over went for 14 as Dhoni swept one for 4 and later on slog swept one for a massive six over midwicket. The 19th over was Jadeja’s turn as he smoked one over fine leg and ended the over with a heave down the ground. This left 21 off 6. Dhoni pummeled the 2nd and 3rd balls for 6 before giving the strike to Jadeja with 6 needed off 2. However, Sharma nailed back-to-back yorkers and Chennai could only manage 2 runs, handing the Royals their 2nd ever Chepauk win.

What’s Next for CSK?

CSK have been riddled with injuries in the past few days, and this game did them no favours. Stokes and Chahar were ruled out before the game, with a possible 2/3 of rest to follow. Magala split his webbing taking the catch for the wicket of Ashwin. Dhoni and Simarjeet Singh have now joined this list of injuries and will be monitored daily to see when they can return.

Another issue CSK seem to have is their Impact Player. In this game, they completely misused it. Sending Dube in against the spinners may seem favorable as he has struggled against the short ball recently, however, Rayudu is the better player of spin and has had better intent this season. Sending Rayudu in at 6 (bearing in mind he has scored most of his runs batting at 3–5) makes no sense, especially with the situation. Rayudu is a top-order batter, so sending him in at 4 to slow a collapse and when the spinners are introduced makes much more sense. Dropping Dube down the order would force him to attack the bowling more, which is what he is in the squad to do. Especially against the Royals who did not have a scary fast bowler who could have bounced him out. This would be my Batting XI for their upcoming game against RCB (assuming Dhoni is fit).

My XI

1. Gaikwad
2. Conway
3. Rahane
4. Rayudu
5. Ali
6. Dhoni
7. Jadeja
8. Dube
9. Santner
10. Hangargekar
11. Deshpande
12. A. Singh (Impact Player for Rayudu)

This lineup gives CSK a raw but exciting pace attack. It is going to be a high-scoring game due to the ground so favoring batting depth over bowling depth could come in handy. Dhoni should promote himself to 6 (or even higher), but the batting order down to 8 is adjustable. They could bring Pretorious/Pathirana in for Santner and then pick Mandal or stick with 4 seamers.

Player Ratings

RR

1. Buttler 8/10-Commanding inning off 52 and top scored over both teams.
2. Jaiswal 4/10-Only 10 runs but 2 great catches to get both openers.
3. Padikkal 7/10-Very confident inning and hopefully gets rid of the rust.
4. Samson 2/10-Poor inning and questionable captaincy at times but trusted Sandeep for the last over.
5. Ashwin 9/10-One of the best all-around performances in this year's IPL. Maybe undroppable for the World Cup.
6. Hetmyer 7/10-Gave them a much-needed boost at the end.
7. Jurel 2/10-Slowed the momentum of the innings.
8. Holder 1/10-Golden duck and expensive with the ball.
9. Zampa 4/10-Expensive but took Moeen’s wicket.
10. Sen 6/10-Economical and should have bowled instead of Holder.
11. Sharma 7/10-Another one that should have bowled more. Held his nerve in the final over and set up Gaikwad perfectly.
12. Chahal 8/10-India’s best white ball spinner. Two wickets at under 7 runs an over.

CSK

1. Gaikwad 3/10-Impatient innings.
2. Conway 7/10-Should have kicked on after 50.
3. Rahane 7/10-Threw his wicket away at an important moment.
4. Dube 3/10-Slowed batting down and nearly killed their chance of winning. 2 catches.
5. Ali 2/10-Dropped 2 catches, didn’t get going with the bat, and was expensive. Great ball to remove Buttler.
6. Rayudu 3/10-Not his fault, was put in a bad position.
7. Jadeja 9/10-Another excellent bowling performance. His batting is starting to heat up.
8. Dhoni 8/10-Should be batting much higher. Left himself too much work.
9. Deshpande 7/10-Improving every game but still a touch too expensive.
10. Singh 6/10-Impressive debut but expensive. CSK’s young pace attack is slowly improving (Mukesh, Singh, Deshpande, Hangargekar and Pathirana).
11. Theekshana 2/10-Very expensive and dropped an easy catch.
12. Magala 5/10-Should have bowled earlier. Much better performance with the ball before the injury.