RR 190/3 after 17.3 overs: What a chase by RR! They win by 7 wickets! Superb knocks by Jaiswal and Dube to take Samson’s team home.
RR 186/3 after 17 overs: RR simply haven’t taken the foot off the pedal. Glenn Phillips has come in and just started whacking the ball out of the park to reach 13 off 7 balls.
RR 170/3 after 15.4 overs: WICKET! Samson (28 off 24) picks out the fielder in the deep as Thakur gets another wicket. Time for a strategic timeout. Rajasthan Royals need 20 runs in 26 balls. Samson c Ruturaj Gaikwad b Thakur 28(24)
RR 165/2 after 15 overs: Rajasthan Royals need 25 runs in 30 balls. Samson playing the smart innings. Dube playing the big shots. A big win could boost the NRR too.
RR 160/2 after 14 overs: Dube gets to his 50 off just 31 balls. It has been a fabulous innings! At long last, he has timed the ball well.
RR 153/2 after 13 overs: Rajasthan Royals need 37 runs in 42 balls. The runs have simply flowed. The pitch seems to now be a beauty for batting.
RR 141/2 after 12 overs: Dube playing a blinder for RR here – he already has 41 off 24 balls. Rajasthan Royals need 49 runs in 48 balls. From this point on, they just need to keep it steady.
RR 127/2 after 11 overs: It looked like RR had got just 6 runs from the Asif over but the last ball was a no-ball. But a superb slower ball prevented further harm.
RR 119/2 after 10 overs: Dube laying into Moeen here. Two sixes in the over and RR have had a superb first half of the chase. Wickets are the only way back in this one for CSK.
RR 104/2 after 9 overs: Dube with a massive 94m six showing that he is now perhaps ready to step back into the limelight.
RR 95/2 after 8 overs: RR can take a moment to set themselves after the breathtaking start.
RR 89/2 after 7 overs: The onus is now on Samson to guide his team to victory. Dube has been around for a while and it will be nice to see what he can do too.
RR 81/2 after 6.1 overs: WICKET! Jaiswal falls right after the Powerplay ends. Done in by the short ball from Asif. 50 off 21. He wasn’t sure of what to do with the ball, ended up being caught in two minds and edging it through to Dhoni. A stunning knock but RR needed him to go on for a bit longer. Jaiswal c Dhoni b KM Asif 50(21)
RR 81/1 after 6 overs: And that is some Powerplay. If RR wanted a good start, they have got it. Important for Jaiswal to stay in the middle for as long as possible now.
RR 77/1 after 5.2 overs: WICKET! Lewis is caught on the boundary line off Thakur. He made 27 off 12 deliveries. He has done his job but can the rest of the RR batting line-up back up this start? Lewis c Hazlewood b Thakur 27(12)
RR 75/0 after 5 overs: Jaiswal punishing Hazlewood and getting to his fifty off just 19 balls. He was dropped early but he hasn’t put a foot wrong since. .-6-6-4-6-. in the over.
RR 53/0 after 4 overs: Thakur into the attack and Lewis just continues playing the shots! Dhoni thought the experienced bowler could stem the flow of runs but no difference. CSK under pressure now... under immense pressure now.
RR 41/0 after 3 overs: 6-4-1-4-1-1. Lewis and RR take Curran to the cleaners. What a start to the chase! Just what RR would have wanted and this puts the pressure right back on CSK... how will Dhoni respond?
RR 24/0 after 2 overs: Big over for RR. Rayudu dropped Jaiswal and then the left-hander punished Hazlewood. A fine start to the chase.
RR 8/0 after 1 over: Steady start to the chase for RR. As Gaikwad showed, it is okay to take your time and get to terms with the pace of the wicket.
RR have a big chase on their hands but CSK don’t have Chahar and Bravo in the mix today.
CSK 189/4 after 20 overs: 4-6-wd-4 – Jadeja was on fire early in the over and then Gaikwad finished things off with a six. The shot helped him get to his hundred. What a shot! What an innings!!! CSK finish on 189/4, Gaikwad on 101 off 60. Jadeja on 32 off 15.
CSK 167/4 after 19 overs: Jadeja punishing Sakaria in the over as CSK continue their charge towards a very healthy total.
CSK 155/4 after 18 overs: CSK are pulling away here. Gaikwad, with another six in this over, is leading the charge and everyone else is coming along for the party. Lovely acceleration by CSK.
CSK 141/4 after 17 overs: Gaikwad keeps the 4s coming and RR really have no answers to his talent today. Shots of a very high quality being played and no slogging at all.
CSK 134/4 after 16.2 overs: WICKET! Rayudu caught in the deep off Sakariya. Just didn’t get the distance he wanted. But CSK have wickets in hand and this was the way to go. Rayudu c Glenn Phillips b Chetan Sakariya 2(4)
CSK 133/3 after 16 overs: 4, 4, 6!!! Gaikwad on the attack and what shots! No stopping him. Akash, who struggled with cramps early in the over, simply had no answer. The CSK opener is making sure that his side will have good runs on the board.
CSK 114/3 after 14.4 overs: WICKET! Two sixes to start the over and now a wicket. Tewatia pushed one wide and Moeen, who had charged out of his crease, is stumped. Nice take by Samson. Given a wide. Moeen Ali st Samson b Rahul Tewatia 21(17)
CSK 100/2 after 14 overs: Another fifty for Gaikwad — 43 balls and he continues his superb run of form. Time for a strategic timeout. CSK have a solid platform but what total will they have in mind?
CSK 97/2 after 13 overs: A sudden burst of acceleration for CSK and Moeen is leading the charge with 20 off 14 balls. A six off the last ball of the Markande over made it a very good one for CSK.
CSK 83/2 after 12 overs: CSK enjoying themselves in the Tewatia over. A lovely four by Gaikwad, who continues to show that he is brilliant against spin. 12 runs from the over.
CSK 71/2 after 11 overs: Steady stuff. The slog overs might be the key here. For now, CSK will want to keep the scoreboard ticking along.
CSK 63/2 after 10 overs: RR have pulled this back. The wickets have helped as has the introduction of spin into the attack.
CSK 57/2 after 8.3 overs: WICKET! Raina finds the fielder in the deep. Tewatia gets another wicket. Time for a strategic break too. Raina c Shivam Dube b Rahul Tewatia 3(5)
CSK 52/1 after 8 overs: Mayank Markande into the attack and he starts off well. Just fours runs off the over as Raina looks to find some form in the middle.
CSK 47/1 after 6.5 overs: WICKET! Tewatia gets RR the breakthrough. Du Plessis (25) is stumped. Didn’t pick the straighter one. Just went through him and Smason completed an easy stumping. du Plessis st Samson b Rahul Tewatia 25(19)
CSK 44/0 after 6 overs: Brief delay in the middle after du Plessis crashed into Mustafizur while attempting to complete a quick single. Still, a decent Powerplay for CSK – 44/0 – on a wicket where shot-making doesn’t seem to be very easy.
CSK 34/0 after 5 overs: Fours off the first two balls for Du Plessis but Sakaria came back well for the rest of the over. RR have so far done well in the Powerplay.
CSK 25/0 after 4 overs: The Fizz comes into the attack and he keeps it right. Just five runs off the over as the CSK openers don’t take any risk against his mix of cutters.
CSK 20/0 after 3 overs: Akash got the false shot out of Gaikwad but the ball flew through the vacant slip area for a four. Decent over... du Plessis also almost pulled the ball to the fielder on the square leg boundary earlier in the over.
CSK 12/0 after 2 overs: Superb over by Sakariya. Nothing loose for the batsmen to latch onto. Just two runs from the over.
CSK 10/0 after 1 over: Akash Singh to start things off for RR and Ruturaj Gaikwad greeted him with a four off the first ball. Then, he hit another four off the last ball to make it a 10-run over.
Squads:
Chennai Super Kings playing XI: F du Plessis, R Gaikwad, M Ali, S Raina, A Rayudu, MS Dhoni, R Jadeja, S Curran, S Thakur, KM Asif, J Hazlewood
Rajasthan Royals playing XI: E Lewis, Y Jaiswal, S Samson, S Dube, G Phillips, D Miller, R Tewatia, A Singh, M Markande, C Sakariya, M Rahman
Toss: Sanju Samson wins the toss, RR will bowl first.
Hello and welcome to our coverage of the 47th match of IPL 2021. The Chennai Super Kings, with 18 points, have already qualified for the playoffs but there is a lot at stake for the Rajasthan Royals, who are currently on 8 points. Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings are all on 10 points and a win will bring RR level with them and back in the race for the playoffs.
Chennai’s opening pair of Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been immense for them and that had helped them a lot in almost every match. The bowling has been on point and under the astute leadership of Dhoni, CSK have been the side to beat.
RR have batting problems. The inconsistency of their line-up means that one isn’t quite sure what will happen on any given day. Samson holds the key but it would nice to have the other batsmen step up against the best in the business.