Nitish Rana smashed a blistering 36-ball 81, while leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga starred with a four-wicket haul as Rajasthan Royals (RR) opened their account with a hard-fought six-run victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL here on Sunday.
Promoted to number 3, left-handed Rana dominated the CSK bowlers, hitting 10 boundaries and 5 sixes en route his scintillating knock but Royals struggled towards back-end just about manage a par-score of 182 for 9.
CSK, who had never successfully chased a target over 180 since 2019, faltered again, managing 176 for six in the allotted overs. The chase was built around skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 63, but it wasn’t enough as CSK succumbed to their second consecutive loss.
Chasing 183, CSK found themselves at 5/1 in the first three overs, with Jofra Archer starting with a maiden wicket over, dismissing Rachin Ravindra (0). A few lusty blows from Rahul Tripathi (23) and Gaikwad (63) helped CSK reach 42/1 in the powerplay.
Hasaranga made an instant impact as he got rid of Tripathi with the first ball of his spell before skipper Riyan Parag took a stunning one-handed catch which saw Shivam Dube (18) lose his wicket.
Despite Gaikwad’s resistance, CSK continued to lose wickets, with Hasaranga dismissing Vijay Shankar (9) after a big six. Gaikwad reached his fifty off 37 balls, but soon fell to Hasaranga, becoming his fourth victim, as CSK slumped to 129 for 5.
With CSK needing 39 off 12 balls, MS Dhoni (16), cheered by the crowd, hit a boundary over short third and a towering six over long-on off a profligate Tushar Deshpande. Ravindra Jadeja (32) also joined in, sweeping the bowler for a huge six over deep backward square leg.
Veteran pacer Sandeep Sharma bowled the final over and removed Dhoni on the second ball as Shimron Hetmyer took a magnificent catch. Eventually, RR defended 20 runs off the final over and won the match by a 6-run margin.
