(IPL) The Chennai Super Kings climbed to the top of the Pepsi IPL 2015 standings yesterday after they defeated the Rajasthan Royals by 12 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. After working their way to a competitive 157-5, CSK then strangled their opponents through Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm spin, restricting them to 145 for 9.
After opting to bat on a difficult surface at the Chepauk, the Chennai Super Kings needed an unusual innings from Brendon McCullum to guide the hosts to a competitive total. On a surface where stroke-making wasn’t easy, the usually destructive McCullum persevered, fought off some trying conditions but ensured he didn’t throw his wicket away.
The CSK opener took his time to get going; though he opened his account with a hit over mid on off the very first ball he faced, he reined himself in and gave himself time to get used to the conditions. Amidst batting out dot balls and picking up singles, there were the odd big hits – like the two sixes off Pravin Tambe in the sixth over. The Kiwi had crawled to 39 from 39 balls, before he stepped on the accelerator. He hit James Faulkner for successive boundaries in the twelfth over, and brought up his half-century in the following over – needing 44 balls to get to the milestone. In his next 17 balls, he scored 31 runs – which included two fours and two sixes – before being dismissed for 81.
Another notable contribution in the CSK innings came from Faf du Plessis, who walked out to bat in the fourth over with the score reading 15 for 2. The South African scored 29 from 25 balls and was involved in a 101-run partnership with McCullum which was very critical to CSK taking their total past the 150-run mark. MS Dhoni (13 from 7 balls) and Dwayne Bravo (15 from 8 balls) contributed cameos to help finish with a flourish. Given they were 60 for 2 at the half-way stage, it was an incredible effort from CSK to have recovered to finish their allotted twenty overs at 157-5.
For Rajasthan Royals, Chris Morris was outstanding; on a pitch that didn’t support the quicks, Morris bowled with plenty of heart, bent his back, bowled with good pace and finished with returns of 3 for 19 which included the scalps of McCullu, Suresh Raina and Pawan Negi. The left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma, who returned to the RR lineup, picked up the wicket of Dwayne Smith and finished with figures of 1-31.
The RR openers Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson got the run-chase off to a steady start, accumulating 37 runs before the former top-edged a pull shot and was caught in the sixth over.
MS Dhoni didn’t waste time in introducing spin into the attack; Pawan Negi was handed the ball in the seventh over and Jadeja was also brought in to bowl.
Jadeja, who had had a very ordinary season so far, struck four telling blows in his four-over spell to put his team in front. He bowled Steve Smith behind his legs, dismissed a well-set Watson in the tenth over – courtesy Dwayne Bravo’s sensational catch on the fence, and then saw the back of Karun Nair and Deepak Hooda, to finish with terrific figures of 4-0-11-4. Sanju Samson (26 from 17 balls) and James Faulkner (16 from 13 balls) attempted a few hits, but just couldn’t find the boundary as often as was required.
On the field, Ravindra Jadeja was the wrecker-in-chief, while Mohit Sharma returned with figures of 3 for 25 from four overs. Ashish Nehra bowled his four overs tidily conceding only 29 runs in his four overs, while Bravo returned figures of 2-43 from his four overs. Such was CSK’s domination on the day that MS Dhoni didn’t have to call on the services of his premier spinner R Ashwin; it was only the second time in the matches Ashwin has played, that he hasn’t been called on to bowl. Though CSK were the superior team on the day, there were a few errors on the field – which one doesn’t normally associate with the team; there were two catches put down in the outfield and several instances of misfielding which led to extra runs being conceded.