A magnificent half-century by the talented Yashasvi Jaiswal helped Rajasthan Royal’s spinners stifle Chennai Super Kings on Thursday, allowing them to win by a comfortable 32 runs and climb atop the IPL standings.
Jaiswal (77 off 43) continued his excellent form with his third fifty of the leagues, then Dhruv Jurel (34 off 15) and Devdutt Padikkal (24 not out) made 48 runs stand to achieve the highest total of 202 runs for five wickets at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
Despite the best efforts of Ruturaj Gaikwad (47) and Shivam Dube (52) spinners Adam Zampa (3/22 in 3 overs) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/35) split five wickets between them to reduce CSK to 170 for 6.
The Royals rose to the top of the standings with the victory, while CSK fell to third.
Unlike RR, CSK’s openers had a difficult time getting going until Gaikwad broke free and smacked Jason Holder (0/49) for a four-over mid-on before hitting a six-over backward deep square leg in the fourth over.
Sanju Samson, the RR captain, increased the pressure by bowling spin from both ends, and it worked. With the needed run rate rising and Devon Conway (8) still having trouble, he was forced to knock a Zampa ball flat to Sandeep Sharma at mid-off.
Gaikwad continued to sneak boundaries every over, unfazed by the wicket, to keep the scoreboard moving till Zampa struck again to remove the dangerman. CSK had a score of 72 halfway through the innings.
After that, Ajinkya Rahane (15) and “Impact Player” Ambati Rayudu (0) were both dismissed by Ashwin (2/35) severely hurting CSK’s chances. Dube, however, had other ideas. He increased the stakes by making three crucial sixes to give CSK some hope. The all-rounder used four sixes and two fours to bring home his third successive half-century. He was unable to go too far with his position, though.
Earlier in the innings, Jaiswal got things going quickly by launching boundaries all over the pitch.
He focused on Akash Singh (0/32) and hit three fours in the first over. The player’s first ball of the game was wide over cover, and his next two balls, which were dispatched to deep extra cover and deep midwicket, also had the same result.
The Rajasthan opener then hit 18 runs off Singh’s second over after that. Jaiswal hit the ball for a six-over long on and three times to the boundary.
After Tushar Deshpande (2/42) and Singh were given out, CSK skipper MS Dhoni introduced spin by bowling Maheesh Theekshana (1/24), who had a solid opening performance.
Jaiswal, however, sped up to reach his half-century in just 26 balls.
Jos Buttler joined the group and pushed some boundaries. They shared an opening partnership of 86 runs before the Englishman’s reserved 27-run effort was stopped by Ravindra Jadeja (1/32).
A momentary batting collapse resulted from the CSK spinners’ ability to reduce the number of boundaries after the wicket.
In the 14th over, Deshpande, who came back for his second appearance, removed the captain Sanju Samson (17), and also secured the crucial dismissal of Jaiswal, who was batting beautifully.
After that, Theekshana returned to defeat the formidable Shimron Hetmyer (8). Padikkal and Jurel afterward added 48 more runs toward the end of the inning.
