Chennai: A fine bowling effort by pacers Simarjeet Singh and Tushar Deshpande helped Chennai Super Kings restrict Rajasthan Royals to a paltry score of 141/5 in Match 61 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday.
Deshpande claimed 2-30 while Simarjeet Singh excelled with 3-26 after Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to bat first. Riyan Parag top-scored for Rajasthan with an unbeaten 47.
Chennai Super Kings, the most successful team in the Indian Premier League history, once again showed great experience to take on a strong Rajasthan Royals side in what is a must-win for the team.
It was the lethal duo of young Yashasvi Jaiswal and veteran Jos Butler who opened the batting for the Royals. The duo got off to a slow start thanks to good bowling by Deshpande and Maheesh Theekshana.
The men in yellow managed to limit the opening duo to only 42 runs in the six Power-play overs. It was Simarjeet Singh who got the first breakthrough in the form of Jaiswal in the first over after the Power-play. The right-arm medium pacer also got the crucial wicket of Butler in his very next over sending both openers back to the dugout.
With both opening batsmen back in the dugout and the Power-play over, Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag, two players who have particularly been in form, were forced to start their game on the back-foot and rotate strike rather than dealing in boundaries. The first 10 overs saw Rajasthan struggling at 61/2.
The Chennai Super Kings were all over the Rajasthan batsmen not giving the players any space to attack the ball. Pressure started mounting on RR and resulted in the eventual wicket of captain, Sanju Samson. It was none other than Singh who got his third and the important wicket of Samson.
In a season in which boundaries have rained with every game, it took the Royals 15.3 overs to cross the 100-run milestone which is a testament to the great job done in the field by the five-time champions.
In came Dhruv Jurel who put on a steady stand with Riyan Parag to put up a partnership of 40 runs off 29 balls with Parag, the two repeatedly tried to clear the boundary but struggled heavily, In the end, Deshpande picked up Chennai’s fourth wicket when he got Jurel, who departed for 28 runs in 18 balls. Shubham Dubey departed on the very next ball. Riyan Parag ended the innings with a six and a single on the last two deliveries of the innings, taking Parag to 47 not out off 35 deliveries.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 141/5 in 20 overs (Riyan Parag 47 not out, Dhruv Jurel 28, Yashasvi Jaiswal 24; Simarjeet Singh 3-26, Tushar Deshpande 2-30) against Chennai Super Kings
(IANS)
