IPL 2023, Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals Live Score: Six runs needed from the last ball. On strike – Mahendra Singh Dhoni. This was the fairytale setup for any Chennai Super Kings fan. Chepauk was on the edge. But as they say that not every fairytale would have a happy ever after! The last ball by Rajasthan Royals’ Sandeep Sharma silenced to boisterous crowd at Chepauk as the visitors defeated host by 3 runs! There were sparkles of pink in the sea of yellow at the end of match as Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja congratulated Sanju Samson and his squad.
Indian Premier League, 2023
Chennai Super Kings
172/6 (20.0)
Rajasthan Royals
175/8 (20.0)
Match Ended ( Day – Match 17 )
Rajasthan Royals beat Chennai Super Kings by 3 runs
With this win, RR have been put right at the top with Lucknow Super Giants. Both teams have now six points each. When asked what went wrong, Dhoni, who was captaining the 200th game for Chennai Super Kings, said that CSK lost the momentum somewhere in the middle of the innings. Yes, everyone was having it easy. But that left Dhoni and Jadeja to do a lot more. Both played some big shots at towards the end but that wasn’t enough. RR’s Sandeep Sharma is being hailed for keeping calm. He defended 21 runs and bowled the last over that scripted the win for the Royals. For the first time since 2008, RR have finally scored a win at Chepauk.
Another factor that went in favour of RR was dew. With Adam Zampa, Yuzi Chahal and Ravichandra Ashwin bowling 12 of the 20 overs, RR were able to halt CSK’s momentum. Both Sandeep Sharma and Kuldeep Sen also bowled well.
Earlier in the day, Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first. Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande And Akash Singh scalped two wickets each. CSK was able to restrict RR to just 175. But as Dhoni pointed out, CSK lacked in batting department today. Ruturaj Gaikwad (8) went cheap, Shivam Dubey, Moeen Ali and Ambati Rayudu didn’t add much on the scoreboard either. Towards the end, Jadeja and Dhoni had lot to do and they did but it wasn’t just enough! Another thriller for IPL fans come to an end. Do join us tomorrow for Gujarat Titans vs Punjab Kings match.
Here are key moments of CSK vs RR match:
Sandeep Sharma's superb bowling helped Rajasthan Royals to defeat Chennai Super Kings.
Chennai Super Kings now need 20 runs from 6 balls. Jadeja has already slammed some big shots to ease the pressure. Chepauk looks at Thala Dhoni for miracle!
Throughout the match today, we saw 1 crore+ viewership according to the live stats by Jio Cinema. The current stat shows that 1.8 crore people are watching this match at the moment!
The required run rate has gone past 15 at the moment! Yes, Dhoni is HERE but Chennai Super Kings are seven down at the moment. Not many overs left. So those quick singles won't do much. CSK need a rerun of what Rinku Singh did for KKR.
It's maddening at Chepauk as Dhoni walks in to bat! Looks like a rock concert right now! And yes, CSK lost a wicket in Devon Conway after he slammed a fifty
Yuzi gets Rayudu. With 5 down, the CSK chase has slowed down a bit. Now Jadeja is on crease.
Zampa silenced the Chepauk crowd as he got Moeen Ali (7). Now Rayudu has come to bat. Though there's so much batting left for CSK, the required run rate looks bit worrisome for men in yellow
What a crafty ball by Ravichandra Ashwin! Shivam Dube walks back just after hitting that big SIX. Moeen Ali on the crease now.
After Ajinkya Rahane's dismissal, Shivam Dube is playing. So, who are next in line to bat. Pretty interesting order there - Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni.
Ravichandran Ashwin gets that much-needed wicket of Rahane. This ends the second wicket partnership for Chennai Super Kings. There's been a lot of conversation around dew factor. This will make spinner more dangerous now.
The second wicket partnership between Ajinkya Rahane and Devon Conway has yielded over 50 runs and it simply looks unshakeable.
They are rotating the strike with some easy shots in between. Both Conway and Rahane are maintaining the momentum for Chennai Super Kings.
This is biggie for Chennai Super Kings! Despite absence of Trent Boult, current RR bowlers are doing the job just fine. Sandeep Sharma gets Ruturaj Gaikwad.
The second innings have begun! Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway are on the crease.
Moeen Ali gets Jos Buttler and halts the momentum of Rajasthan Royals. All eyes on Hetmyer now to step on the gas and get going. With some big shots, RR can still get a challenging total.
Oops! Commentator's curse, is it? Well, after some thrilling shots, Ravichandran Ashwin is back in the RR dugout. He made 30 from 22 deliveries. Now Hetmyer is batting.
Ravichandran Ashwin is smashing some big shots - two back-to-back sixes - to get the much-needed fire in the last five overs of the innings.
Ravichandran Ashwin got a breather as the third umpire declared him 'NOT OUT'. There's no more fiery shots by RR batters right now. But with big total in mind, it seems like Buttler will seek more strikes to get those runs. For now, there's steady momentum.
Just when everyone thought that CSK bowlers were missing the zing, Sir Jadeja changed the game! After Devdut Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja got Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson! This is big one... all of a sudden, Royals do not look pink in health, do they?
In today's match, Jos Buttler reached a milestone. He has become third player after Chris Gayle and KL Rahul to reach 3,000 IPL runs in quickest way. It took him 85 innings to reach this landmark. Gayle and Rahul are the only two other players who have reached this milestone this fast.
Well, there are reports that many fans were not able to buy the tickets for the CSK vs RR match despite waiting in line for several hours. Many blame that tickets were being sold in 'black market' for very high price tag.
Trust Dhoni mania to do the magic when it comes to IPL viewership. Even as the power play is on and Rajasthan Royals are batting, the Jio cinema viewership has already crossed the 1 crore-mark!
Tushar Deshpande gets Yashasvi Jaiswal! With this, CSK bowlers has sent back one of the RR openers. Now Padikkal is here. With Padikkal coming to bat now, RR captain Sanju Samson has decided to bat much lower in the lineup.
Jos Buttler and Yashaswi Jaiswal are opening for Rajasthan Royals. Akash Singh, who is making debut for Chennai Super Kings, is bowling the first over.
One name - DHONI! MSD has become first player in the history of the Indian Premier League to captain a team for 200 matches. No player has seen this kind of longevity in IPL. Many players are either released by franchise or are not retained. But Thala has remained with CSK from the inaugural edition of IPL.
At present, Rajasthan Royals is on number 2 position in the IPL points table. With four points, the team has NRR of +2.070. On the other hand, CSK is on number five position in the IPL points table. With four points, Dhoni & co have NRR of 0.360.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (captain and wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jorel, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Jason Holder, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Kuldeep Sen
Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (skipper and wicketkeeper), Sisanda Magala, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh
Chennai Super Kings' skipper Dhoni has won the toss and decided to send Sanju Samson-led squad to bat first. RR skipper also feels that had he won the toss, he would have also opted to field first.
Big question - Will Dhoni bat higher? Cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar reportedly said that Dhoni should bat higher in the lineup. Gavaskar feels that batting higher, Dhoni can help in both chase or putting up a big total - whatever maybe the scenario.