The struggle for Chennai Super Kings continued in the 13th edition of the Dream11 Indian Premier League.
In the 37th game of the season, Rajasthan Royals bowlers put up an inspired show to restrict Chennai Super Kings to a paltry score of 125 for 5 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Monday.
The total was given some respectability by Ravindra Jadeja, who hit an unbeaten 35 off 30 balls. The left-hander slammed four boundaries in the death overs to help his team reach 125.
Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat. However, his decision backfired as they were four down for 56 at the end of ten overs.
Jofra Archer bowled fast and accurately and got rid of opener Faf du Plessis in the third over of the innings. Kartik Tyagi then sent Shane Watson packing to give CSK another blow inside the Powerplay.
Sam Curran and Ambati Rayudu took Chennai Super Kings past 50 but Shreyas Gopal foxed left-handed opener Curran to get Rajasthan Royals another wicket. Rayudu was dismissed by Rahul Tewatia to leave CSK in a pickle.
Dhoni and Jadeja added crucial 51 runs for the fifth wicket but just when it seemed like they would tee off at the death, Dhoni got run out by a fraction of inches.
The CSK captain was playing his 200th IPL game and made a run-a-ball 28. While trying to run a second run off a mis-field he failed to beat the Archer throw.
Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer and Kartik Tyagi took a wicket each.
Struggling to stay in the competition, CSK made a couple of changes. Injured Dwayne Bravo was replaced by Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood while Piyush Chawla came in for another leggie Karn Sharma.
Rajasthan Royals have made one change as Ankit Rajpoot brought in place of Jaydev Unadkat.
Brief scores
Chennai Super Kings 125 for 5 in 20 overs (Ravindra Jadeja 35 not out, MS Dhoni 28, Sam Curran 22, Ambati Rayudu 13, Faf du Plessis 10; Shreyas Gopal 1-14, Rahul Tewatia 1-18, Jofra Archer 1-20, Kartik Tyagi 1-35) vs Rajasthan Royals.
Courtesy: orangecitysports.com
