Another thrilling last ball finish, ending the match. Chennai won the toss and chose to ball first, but Jos Butler took 11 runs off the first over with a boundary and a six. The next over Rahane joined hands with two boundaries. Third over Deepak Chahar produced the wicket of Rahane (14 out; 11b; 3X4) with an appeal of LBW and he was out, Rajasthan 31-1. Buttler (23 runs; 10b; 4X4, 1X6) brutally hit three consecutive boundaries off Thakur’s over, but in the fourth ball, Thakur gets his wicket as payback. Sanju Samson (6 runs; 6b; 1X4) departed in sixth over, a little fumbling while taking the catch but in the end caught safely by Shorey. In the powerplay, RR batsmen contributed 54-3, but the concern remains the fall of wickets. At the end of 9th over Rahul Tripathi (10 out; 12b; 1X4) tries to hit the ball over Jadhav but Jadhav outsmarts him by taking the catch. Within next two over’s Steven Smith (15 runs; 22b; 1X4) tries to go big and couldn’t make it, ending in Ambati Rayadu’s hands, RR 78-5 in 10.5 over’s’. Thakur gets his second wicket, Riyan Parag (16 out; 14b; 2X4) in the last ball of 15th over, Rajasthan at 103-6. Chahar strikes the second time, another big wicket of Ben Stokes (28 out; 26b; 1X4), bowls in the leg-stump, Stokes misses it, Rajasthan 126-7 10 balls to go. However, RR crossed the 150 marks at the last over, with power hitting from Shreyash Gopal (19 not out; 7b; 2X4, 1X6) and Jofra Archer (13 not out; 12b; 1X4), ending the 1st inning with a defending total of 151 with the loss of 7 wickets.
Rajasthan Royals dedication to win the game was showing in their defense when in the 1st over of the 2nd innings Dhawal Kulkarni bowled a straight one and Watson (0 out; 4b) completely missed it. CSK under pressure with one man down and a maiden 1st over, but Rajasthan added more pressure as, in the last ball of the second over Jofra Archer did a brilliant piece of fielding resulting in a direct hit to end Raina’s (4 out; 4b; 1X4) game for the night, CSK 5-2. CSK lost their third wicket on the 4th over, Faf du Plessis tries to go big, but more importantly, Rahul Tripathi showed an outstanding effort to take the catch, and du Plessis (7 out; 10b) heads back. However, the next catch of Jadhav (1 out; 6b) was a sensational one from Ben Stokes, beautifully caught awarding him the Catch of the Match. Rajasthan’s fielding dominating the CSK run chase was prominent throughout the powerplay, as Chennai lost 4 big wickets adding just 24 runs on the board. As the CSK skipper walked up to the crease he took charge of the moment with a maximum of Gopal. Rayadu and Dhoni started to build a partnership, with occasional boundaries and singles and 2’s to keep the scoreboard ticking. The duo put up a 95 runs partnership, with 33 runs left to chase off 14 deliveries. Ben Stokes strikes some hope into the RR dugout with the wicket of Ambati Rayadu (57 out; 47b; 2X4, 3X6) just after his half-century mark and a beautiful running and catch taken by Shreyas Gopal. Dhoni looked exhausted with all the singles and 2’s, but the start of the next over was complete pandemonium with Jadeja (9 not out; 4b; 1X6) hitting an untimed shot and fell on the crease but luckily it traveled all the way, CSK needs 12 runs off 5 balls. Stokes delivered a No-ball next and in the third Dhoni (58 out; 43b; 2X4, 3X6) gets out, Stokes Yorker hitting the stumps, CSK needs 8 runs off 3 balls. With 3 runs needed from the last ball, Santner (10 not out; 3b; 1X6) hits a maximum to win the game for CSK.
