Chennai Super Kings fall short of 16 runs.
Dhoni & Smith are the two most successful captains in IPL with win% of 65.5 and 60 respectively, competed with their teams yesterday. It was high scoring match which Chennai super kings (CSK) fought till end. Rajasthan Royals (RR) had Scored 216 runs and CSK tried their best and reached till 200 & fallen short for just 16 runs. Sanju samson played destructive innings with fastest fifty of this IPL and also did great job with wicketkeeping . Jofra came out to be the game-changer with his batting and even bowling too which lead royals to win.
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah it’s significant as that place has been very important for Indians. Because in 1980s and 1990s a lot of ODIs were played there and most of them against Pakistan and Australia. Sharjah’s ground is smaller than the other two grounds at UAE. So hitting boundaries will be easy but as the ball gets old, the pitch will grip it so a total like 160 could also be defendable. It’s totally different surface to Dubai or Abu Dhabi in terms of runs and the size of the venue. It is challenging situation for bowlers. As an high-scorer game is on the cards.
Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Picture courtesy: Gulf news .
“We saw grass at Abu Dhabi and Dubai. There is no grass on this wicket. I can’t predict any sideways movement. You will be thinking low bounce when you prepare to play on this wicket. Once you get a pace of the wicket, you can score quickly. So, the guy who wins the toss will like to chase,” reads Kevin Pietersen.
Chennai Super Kings had won the toss and have opted to field first, “due to dew as one of the factors,” as skipper MS Dhoni said.
Jaiswal and Smith were at the crease to open the game. No sooner then they were ready for the chase, Chahar broke the partnership by taking a wicket of Jaiswal. Later Samson coming into the picture who gave a hitting start supported by Smith. Samson completed his half century in 19 balls which made him the Man of the Match.
Picture courtesy: IPL twitter handle.
“50 from just 19. Such pure, clean, elegant hitting. I could watch Sanju Samson bat all day, every day.” – Harsha Bhogle.
Stats time:
Fastest 50s for RR in IPL
18 J Buttler v DD Delhi 2019
19 O Shah vs RCB Bengaluru 2012
19 S Samson vs CSK Sharjah 2020
After time-out Jadeja came back into attack and compensated for his last over by giving just 4 runs in this over. Here come one more big over by chawla giving 19 runs and got hit couple of six by Samson-Smith. Samson was unstoppable even Jadeja’s good bowling couldn’t stop him from hitting maximum. Ngidi came back into attack in 12th over and here he takes wicket of Samson who was ruthlessly playing. Miller, who came in to bat got run out without even playing a single bowl. It was 134-3 after 12 overs. Robbin uthappa stepped in to bat. Chawla who had given 47 runs in two overs was back and this time he compensated a bit by giving just 3 runs. It was 147-3 after 14 overs and here was the time for a strategic break. Chawla was back into attack and with first ball of the 15th over and he took uthappa’s wicket by bowling decently.
Yashasvi jaiswal after watching cricketing legend MS Dhoni in front of him.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.
Ngidi came into attack and was beaten with a couple of fours. It was 166-4 after 16 overs. Sam curran was back and he took a couple of wickets in this over and bowled a decent over by giving just 7 runs. Chahar was back into attack in the 18th over and played in a fantastic manner in his bowling by giving just 3 runs in an over. After 18 overs it was 177-6. Now Sam curran was back into attack and he managed to get the big man Smith out by giving his efforts for the team He contributed 69 runs in 47 balls. It was 186 for 7 wickets after the 19th over and here was the batsman Jofra archer on strike with Ngidi bowling into attack but this over changed everything thing for Rajasthan Royals from 186 to 216 runs with the help of Ngidi and Jofra.
Some interesting stats of this innings were
17 sixes were now most hit by rajasthan royals.
This was the fourth highest total for RR in IPL.
Picture courtesy: ESPNCRICINFO twitter handle.
Then came the second innings, where Watson and Vijay were in the crease for opening and Unadkat was opening for the attack.
The 1st over was a decent one with 5 runs for unadkat as CSK needed to start hitting from the start to chase this huge run total. 2nd over by Jofra was again a great over in terms of bowling giving just 3 runs. Second over for Unadkat and Murli vijay opened with back to back boundaries and it was a decent over for CSK to be in the game. In the 4th over Jofra archer was welcomed by the maximum from Watson but other 5 balls were dot deliveres and Jofra compensated in this over itself. Shreyas gopal came into attack for 5tg over he gave 11 runs in this over. Hence it was 5 overs 36-0 Vijay was on 19 runs and Watson was on 16 runs. Watson hits a couple of sixes and one boundry for tom Curran’s over. 17 runs from 6th over was an hope for CSK to fight and be in the game strongly. Here comes first wicket taken by Rahul tewatia in 7th over of Watson who was at 33 runs. 8th over by Gopal got another shock with wicket of another opener vijay who scored 21of 21 balls. Du plessis was on the crease with Sam curran on the other end started hitting those risky shots. Where sam Curran scored quick 17 runs from just 6 balls and Tewatia took his wicket in the 9th over and there was a time out after 8.5 overs. Rituraj gaikwad a debutant came in to bat and went for a duck. Then shreyas gopal put a very decent over by giving just 5 runs. It was just 82-4 after 10 overs and all hopes were going away but there was one big hope alive as the skipper of CSK was yet to come.
Sanju samson flying to take catch.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter
Even Du plessis was settling down with kedar jadhav. Here comes the hatrick boundaries by kedar jadhav to bowler Shreyas gopal. It was 101-4 after 12 overs but had long way to go.
The Game was going away as there were a few dot balls poured. In the 14th over tom Curran took kedar Jadhav’s wicket who had scored 22 runs of 16 balls. But making the way for captain itself, MS Dhoni comes in and hopes rise again. In the 6th ball of 14th over Dhoni took his first run in the international cricket since the worldcup2019 semi-final.
It was 14 overs 115-5, And now Du plessis started hitting sixes to the stands in 15th over. Dhoni started batting without helmet which means he wanted to go for some big hits with Du plessis. 16 runs from 15th over showed some hopes alive for CSK. Again Jofra came into attack with his brilliant bowling figures giving only 7 runs in 16th over. 17th over Du plessis welcomed Unadkat with maximum and ended hitting two more sixes. It was 14th fifty for Faf duplesis, he was at 55 runs made by just 29 balls.
Faf du plessis hitting the ball.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.
Needed 58 runs from 18 balls and Tom curran was back in to attack. He did decent bowling by giving 10 runs during death over. Here comes the star player Jofra into attack, giving just 10 runs and taking the wicket of another star player Du plessis. This stretched the game more towards rajasthan royals. Jadeja come to bat and 38 runs were needed from 6 balls which was impossible. Tom Curran was back in to attack but now Dhoni settled and started hitting biggies. 2runs in two balls and then Dhoni hits 3 back to back sixes from which one of it went out of the park. It was a 92 meters long six. He finished with single run and CSK fell short of just 16 runs.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.
That 30 runs in last over of first innings, given by Ngidi to Royals, later took toll on CSK. Although the match results gone into hands of RR but CSK gave their 100% efforts and reached till 200 runs. As Dhoni’s experimental efforts with batting order didn’t showed results as he thought but learnings are the part of game and as we know CSK is such team they can come back stronger whenever they want.
“Steve and Samson batted very well. Need to give credit to their bowlers. I haven’t batted for a long time. 14-day quarantine doesn’t help (why he isn’t batting higher). Also wanted to try different things, give opportunities to Sam. Have the opportunity to try different things. If it doesn’t work, you can always go back to your strengths.” – skipper of CSK MS Dhoni.
MS Dhoni during post match presentation.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.
Man of the match was given to Sanju samson for his extraordinary innings.
Sanju samson during post match presentation.
Picture courtesy: IPL handle on twitter.
“My game plan is stand and deliver. I’ve been working hard on my fitness, diet and training, and on my strength, because my game relies a lot on power hitting. I had time to work out in these 5 months, and I think I’ve increased that ability. We are happy to bring smiles on the fans’ faces and we hope to continue doing so.” – Man of the match Sanju samson.
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