image source, Getty Images
Yesterday’s match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals at Chepakkam Stadium in Chennai ended without any shortage of excitement. Dhoni and Jadeja changed the opinion of the fans that Chennai Super Kings had no chance of winning with their action. While the fans were sure that CSK would win in the end, CSK lost by 3 runs after scoring only 1 run in the last ball.
As yesterday’s match was Dhoni’s 200th match as captain, Chennai’s Chepakkam ground was full of fans. Dhoni won the toss and all the fans in the stadium cheered.
When Dhoni wins the toss and chooses to bowl, it is a pleasure to play the 200th match. Watching the crowd of fans is amazing. Playing on this renovated stadium is like playing in Switzerland. He said, “I am happy that I have been fighting for so many years.”
Rajasthan’s batting was action-packed from start to finish
Batting first, Rajasthan Royals scored 175 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. In the beginning, Rajasthan batsmen Butler – Padgal showed action and the team crossed 50 runs in the 6th over. Ravindra Jadeja gave a shock treatment in the 9th over to the strong Rajasthan team who scored 86 runs in 8 overs.
He took the wickets of Padikal and Sanju Samson in that over. With this, he reached the milestone of 200 wickets in all types of 20 over matches. He should have taken the wicket of Ashwin in the same over.
But Moeen Ali missed the catch. Even after that the Rajasthan batsmen could not score big runs due to accurate bowling by Jadeja and Sisanda Mahala. In the final overs, Hedmyer hit two fours and two sixes as Rajasthan team scored 175 runs.
image source, BCCI/IPL
A disappointing 10-17 overs for Chennai
Chennai team entered the field with the target of winning if they score 176 runs. Ruduraj, who has been outstanding in all the three matches he has played so far in the current IPL series, was disappointing as he got out for just 8 runs in this match. Conway-Rahane joined after that. Both of them were hitting the bowling of the Rajasthan bowlers. Especially in the 6th over bowled by Ashwin, Rahane hit a six at mid-off and excited the Chennai fans.
After that, Rahane was dismissed in the 10th over by Ashwin, and it was Rajasthan’s hand after that. Fans will remember the action of batsmen in T20 matches like sixes and fours. But in yesterday’s match, the Chennai team took only 2 fours in the 10th to 17th overs. At the same time, the team also lost important wickets like Rahane, Dubey, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Conway.
Rajasthan batsmen did not concede big scores in these overs. Ashwin, who bowled the 10th over, gave away only 4 runs and ended Rahane’s action. Kuldeep Sen bowled the next over for 7 runs and Ashwin bowled only 7 runs in the 12th over to take the wicket of Shivam Dube. Rajasthan bowlers conceded only 5 runs each in the 13th and 14th overs. Chahal, who bowled the 15th over, gave away 10 runs but took the wickets of Royd and Conway and put pressure on CSK.
Thus the required run rate at the end of 9 overs was 9.09 to 18.00 at the start of the 18th over.
Dhoni-Jadeja gave hope to Chennai fans
image source, BCCI/IPL
Chennai needed 54 runs to win in the last 3 overs. However, CSK fans were optimistic. The reason was that the Dhoni-Jadeja duo was on the field. Both are action players who can change the course of the game in 3 and 4 balls. As if to reassure the fans, Zamba hit the first ball of the 18th over for a boundary and Dhoni hit a six off the 4th ball to get 14 runs in that over alone.
Before the start of yesterday’s match, Ravindra Jadeja had said, “Let’s win the 200th match as Dhoni’s captaincy and gift that victory to Dhoni.” He was unable to give Dhoni the prize he claimed for bowling.
The last three balls that changed the course of the game
Sandeep Sharma, who came to bowl in the condition that CSK will win if they score 21 runs off 6 balls, bowled the first two balls wide. Dhoni did not score any runs in the first ball and bowled the next two balls to the Siskers and the game turned towards Chennai. Only 7 runs were needed off 3 balls. Dhoni, who is good at finishing the match successfully in the last over while batting. Dhoni, who has faced the 20th over in 89 games so far in the IPL series, has scored more than 680 runs in that over alone. So, it was assumed that Dhoni would win his 200th match as captain. But, Sandeep Sharma left the Chennai fans in agony by conceding only 3 runs in 3 balls with his brilliant bowling.
Chennai team has won 15 out of 27 matches between Rajasthan and Chennai. At the same time, in the last 6 matches played by both the teams, Rajasthan team has scored 6 clean sheets.
image source, Getty Images
Speaking after the defeat, Dhoni said, “When I was batting, we wasted too many balls in the middle overs without scoring runs. He said that he could have scored extra runs in the middle overs and I was also waiting for the bowlers to do something wrong. The bowler was under a bit of pressure in the last over. We also saw that the field was damp. It got easier after the first few overs. He had also said that we could have done better with the bat
Former Indian batsman Sunil Gavaskar, who spoke to Star Spots media before yesterday’s match, said, “I hope MS Dhoni will elevate himself in the batting order. Thus, he can play two or three extra overs. As he can score huge runs, he can make a difference in CSK with his batting.”
Dhoni has faced more than 10 balls only in yesterday’s game in the league matches so far in the current series. Dhoni scored 14 runs off 7 balls in the first match against Gujarat Titans and 12 runs off 3 balls in the match against Lucknow Supergiants. In yesterday’s match, Dhoni, who faced 17 balls, scored 32 runs with 3 sixes and 1 four. Perhaps, as Gavaskar suggested, if Dhoni had been a little more forward in the batting, the match would have been in CSK’s hands.
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