Ranchi,Chennai Super Kings jumped to the top of the table with a fine five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the JSCA International Stadium Complex here Tuesday.
Skipper
Mahendra Singh Dhoni again took the team home safely with an unbeaten 26 off 16
balls along with Ravindra Jadeja (11 not out) as Chennai Super Kings achieved
the target of 149 with two balls to spare and five wickets in hand.
Though Super
Kings lost two quick wickets of Brendan McCullum (6) and Suresh Raina (2)
inside five overs, Dwayne Smith (44) and Faf du Plesis (38) kept the Super
Kings on track with their valuable knocks. Both McCullum and Raina were removed
by left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma, who was the most impressive of the Rajasthan
bowlers with two for 20.Smith was the aggressive one as he struck five fours
and two sixes in his 35-ball innings while Du Plesis, was happy giving the
strike to his West Indian team mate. The South African struck two fours in his
39-ball knock.The duo added 35 runs for the third wicket before Smith fell
tamely while attempting a pull shot of his fellow West Indian Kevon Cooper, but
lobbed it to the wicketkeeper. Ravichandran Ashwin took 16 balls for his 14 and
was castled by Rajat Bhatia while Du Plesis had his stumps rattled by James
Faulkner.
With Du Plesis
back in the dug out, Super Kings were 121 for five in 17.3 overs. They needed
another 28 runs in 15 balls. Dhoni made it look simple and finished off the job
with ease. He struck a four and a six in his 16-ball innings and got good
support from Jadeja to take the team through.Earlier, a captain’s knock of 51
by Shane Watson took Rajasthan Royals to 148 for eight in 20 overs. Besides
Watson, Ankit Sharma (30) and Stuart Binny (22) were the two other batsmen, who
could get to double figures.Watson and Ankit gave Rajasthan an impressive start
with their 60-run stand but after Aknit’s dismissal, they kept losing wickets
at regular intervals. Watson played a whirlwind knock in 36 balls and hit three
fours and four sixes.
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