As predicted the match was fought between the bowlers of both teams, and Chennai Super Kings emerged winner in a close game. Jadeja proved why he is one of the best allrounders in the world by match winning performances with bat and ball. Ashwin gave him good company. For Rajasthan Royals, Rajat Bhatia and Dhawal Kulkarni fell short of matching the feat by few runs, and as a result CSK won by a close 7 runs and move to second position in Points Tally. The batsmen, except Dwayn Smith, were as good as audience in the match. Royals batsmen contributed to the loss by throwing their wickets. They appeared in a hurry to finish, and they finished as losers.
IPL 2014: Schedule and Results
CSK Manage 140/6
Sent to bat first on a pitch where 140 looked a good score, CSK ended up scoring exactly that many. Dwayn Smith did appear like defying the pitch scoring 28-ball 50 with 3 6s and 6 4s. He took CSK to 50 runs in 6 overs. But Brendum McCullum could not succeed (10-ball 6 runs) as he was gone on a brilliant catch by Smith on the bowling of Faulkner. Dwayn Smith was so dominant that when he was finally caught easily by Watson on the bowling of Binney he has scored 50 of the 59 runs that CSK scored in 7.2 overs.
Then started the race to return to dug out.
Next over saw Raina (9-ball 4 runs) was send to dug out by Rajat Bhatia. After that the oldies Pravin Tambe (1/27) and Rajat Bhatia (2/13) took control of the match as CSK reached 101/6 in 14.5 overs when Bhatia bowled his last over. Between them they gave 40 runs and had 3 wickets besides the exceptional run out that Bhatia achieved by rolling finger over the return shot of Dhoni as Plessis (9-ball 7 runs) was caught out of Runners end.
Dhoni had 11.3 overs to settle down but he needed only 8-balls to score 5 and try a big hit of Tambe. Faulkner had no option but to accept the easy gift. In 11.1 overs CSK were 74/5. Manhas (run-a-ball 10 runs) gave company to Jadeja for 3.4 overs before giving a catch to Rahane in the last over of Bhatia’s over.
In the remaining 5.1 overs Jadeja (33-ball 36 runs with 2 4s) and Ashwin (13-ball 9 runs) kept their calm and added unbeaten 39 runs to take CSK to 140/6.
For Rajasthan, Bhatia with 2/13, and Tambe with 1/27 were the heroes. Kulkarni had 0/18 in 3 overs. Southee had 0/27. Faulkner was cleaned up with 1/38 in 3 overs. Binny had 1/10 in 1 over while Watson had to bowl a filler giving away 5 runs in an over.
Royals Bowl Themselves Out for 133
This match should force Royals to give Abhishek Nayar some rest. He has been disastrous in three outings and today was no different. After an uncomfortable stay for 1.3 overs, he ran himself out on 7-ball 5 runs. The chase was tricky and batsmen needed patience knowing it was not beyond reach. But Rahane (12-ball 15 runs), Watson (6-ball 7 runs with a six) appeared in hurry for some reason, And, their wicket put pressure on Samson (run-a-ball 16 runs with 2 sixes of Hilfenhaus) who was batting confidently till then. And soon, Royals were 44/4 in 6.5 overs as Watson and Samson were sent to pavilion on two consecutive balls by Jadeja.
Binny’s bad day continued as he could score only 11-ball 8 runs. Smith fought with 19 runs but run rare was increasing. Bhatia (20-ball 23 with a six and four each) and Dhawal Kulkarni fought. But Faulkner, Southee (4 each) succumbed. CSK was a clear winner by 19th over. But Dhawal Kulkarni (19-ball 28 runs with 2 6s) almost got RR towards a smile. Ashwini bowled the last over and being 117/9 RR needed 24 runs. With two sixes, Dhawal got them to 9 runs in last two balls and played the 5th ball for a double, but Tambe for reasons only known to him refused the second and the last wicket was ran out.
RR finally lost by 7 runs. Dhoni used his bowlers judiciously. He kept his spinners till the end. Jadeja dealt the killer blows with 4 wickets of 33 runs. But all the bowlers played key role. Hilfenhaus (1/32), Ishwar Pandey (1/22) bowled a maiden too. Ashwin (1/27), Raina (0/6 in 2 overs) and Mohit (1/13 in 2 overs) also delivered the blows to keep Royals behind.
Jadeja: Player of the Match
When he came to bat, CSK were in danger. He controlled his aggression and played a calm knock to take CSK to a respectable score on a slow pitch. While bowling first he sent two key batsmen of RR, Watsona nd Samson, on consecutive balls and then went on to add another dangerous batsmen, Smith, and the tail-ender Southee to his tally. He single-handedly won the match for CSK.
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