■ Chennai Super Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by 45 runs

Moeen’s all-round exploits help CSK beat RR by 45 runs

A vintage Chennai Super Kings brushed aside Rajasthan Royals by 45 runs in the IPL here on Monday. A cameo from Dwayne Bravo towards the end of the innings helped Chennai post 188 for nine.

In reply, Rajasthan lost a clutch of wickets in the middle overs to manage only 143 for nine. This is Chennai’s second successive win, while Rajasthan lost two in three matches. Rajasthan’s chase got off to a poor start with opener Manan Vohra and skipper Sanju Samson getting out to Sam Curran inside the powerplay.

Much was expected of the inspirational Samson, but for the second consecutive game he failed to meet those expectations, scoring only 1. In the face of mounting pressure, Jos Buttler kept his composure, playing neat strokes before perishing to the guile of Ravindra Jadeja for 49 (35b, 5x4, 2x6) in the 12th over.

In the same over, Jadeja also dismissed Shivam Dube for 17 (20b, 2x4). Rajasthan received an even bigger blow in the 15th over when Moeen Ali scalped two wickets, including that of the dangerous Chris Morris for zero, to virtually hasten its end. Ali finished with an impressive analysis of 3-0-7-3. Ali also made a valuable contribution with the bat, scoring 26 (20b, 1x4, 2x6).

Earlier, CSK lost wickets towards the end with the batsmen going for big hits and also in the face of some good bowling by Royals. Bravo (20 not out off 8 balls) smashed a huge six off the last ball of the innings from Mustafizur Rahman (1/37) to ensure Super Kings got close to 190.

Faf du Plessis top scored with 33 off 17 balls as the CSK batsmen got starts but couldn’t capitalise on them after being put in to bat.

Young Chetan Sakariya (3/36 from 4 overs) was the best bowler for Rajasthan while Morris finished with 2/33 despite conceding 15 runs in his final over. Dhoni, in his 200th match as CSK captain, came in to bat at No.7 but could not get going as quickly as he would have liked. He, however, managed two boundaries in his 17-ball 18 before being beaten by an off-cutter by Sakariya and giving a catch to Buttler.

Ambati Rayudu (27, 17 balls, 3 sixes) and Suresh Raina (18, 15 balls, 1 four, 1 six) added 45 runs in quick time for the fourth wicket.

BRIEF SCORES:

Chennai Super Kings 188/9 in 20 overs (F du Plessis 33, C Sakariya 3/36) bt Rajasthan Royals 143/9 in 20 overs (J Buttler 49, M Ali 3/7)