IPL 6: Super Kings trump Rajasthan Royals to go top

Chennai Super Kings 186 for 5 (Hussey 88, Raina 51, Faulkner 3-20) beat Rajasthan Royals 185 for 4 (Watson 101, Binny 36*, Ashwin 2-20) by five wickets

Shane Watson turned from hero to villain as he conceded 11 runs off the last over to hand the Chennai Super Kings their third consecutive win in this season’s IPL. The wicket at Chidambaram stadium was a perfect batting strip as it remained the same throughout the match and Chennai Super Kings classically exploited and came up trumps.

Hussey and Raina batted brilliantly following the wicket of Vijay (3) at the end of the second over. Raina finally found his form as he was timing the ball to perfection. The duo put on an incredible partnership of 90 runs for the second wicket that ultimately helped the Super Kings inch closer towards the Royals score of 185 runs.

For the first time in this season’s IPL, Chennai Super Kings made use of the first six overs despite losing a wicket as they had scored 45/1 at the end of the 6th over. Dravid made all possible bowling changes, but couldn’t get any reward as Raina and Hussey looked in sublime form. Also, Rajasthan bowlers offered too much room for the batsmen and did not bowl according to the field. Dravid had three men inside the circle on the off-side to prevent the single. But Hussey and Raina somehow found the gap between the fielders and cruised to 92/1 after 10 overs.

The departure of Raina (51) in the 13th over did not affect the scoring rate as MS Dhoni continued with the momentum. Dhoni and Hussey put on a good partnership of 42 runs, before Hussey was run-out by a direct-hit from Dravid. Suddenly there was a twist in the game with the departure of Jadeja for nought as he was yorked by Faulkner, leaving Super Kings at 154/4 in the 17th over.

Rajasthan would have hoped for a better fielding performance, especially in the slog overs, as they were constantly fumbling and missing run-out attempts. Also, they were lethargic in the field, particularly in the 17th over where Dravid’s recklessness granted the Super Kings two extra runs when it should have been a single, which brought the equation down to 17 runs off 12 balls.

James Faulkner bowled an excellent penultimate over as he grabbed the wicket of Dhoni (21) and conceded only 6 runs, to reduce the equation to 11 runs off 6 balls. Shane Watson started the final over with two good balls that mounted the pressure on Super Kings batsman Bravo. Bravo struck a beautiful six off the third ball over extra-cover region to reduce the equation to 4 runs off 3 balls, and in the end finished the game for the Super Kings.

Bravo also did a brilliant job with the ball as he picked up couple of important wickets in a tight spell. He was asked to bowl his four overs at the death, which is certainly a tough task. But Bravo made it look as easy with his pace variations as he grabbed the wicket of Dravid and Watson to stymie their task of 200 runs.

Chennai Super Kings bowlers found it difficult to bowl on a dry wicket as Mohit Sharma conceded 9 runs in his first over. Chris Morris was also taken for runs easily by Shane Watson, who scored the first century of Pepsi IPL 2013. Watson batted brilliantly; his shot selection was accurate and he dominated a greater part of the game.

Rajasthan fought bravely till the end, but couldn’t get past the line against a side that has a strong batting line-up. Nevertheless, it was a good performance from the Rajasthan team!

Chennai Super Kings play their next game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 25, while Rajasthan Royals play their next game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 27.