Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) met at CSK’s new adopted home of MCA stadium in Pune. The Pune ground is famous for its big scores and chasing teams winning the majority of matches.
Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and decided to chase. RR brought in Heinrich Klaasen and Stuart Binny for Dhawal Kulkarni and D’Arcy Short. CSK, on the other hand, brought in Suresh Raina and Karn Sharma for Harbhajan Singh and M Vijay.
CSK got off to a good start as Binny started the innings with a no ball. Watson was in great form and took CSK to 50 runs in 5th over. Rayudu went back for 12, as Buttler caught him off Laughlin. Raina came in and started blasting RR bowling everywhere, scoring 46 off 29 balls with 9 fours. Gopal had him caught by Gowtham in 12th over with the score on 131.
Then the same duo of Gowtham and Gopal accounted for MS Dhoni, who scored 5 runs. Billings went next for 3, caught by Stokes off Gopal. Gopal finished with 3/20 off 4 overs.
Watson however, kept CSK going on and scored 106 off 57 balls with 6 sixes and 9 fours. This was his third hundred and his highest score in IPL ever. Bravo made 24 off 16 balls. However, the CSK which looked good enough to get 220 runs, ended up on 204/5 in 20 overs. Laughlin too took two wickets for 38 runs in his four overs.
RR opened with Rahane and IPL debutant Heinrich Klaasen. Klaasen scored 7 and Samson scored 2; while captain Ajinkya Rahane scored 16 runs. Stokes and Buttler then tried to form a partnership, but Buttler went back for 22, after adding 45 runs for the 4th wicket.
CSK kept chipping away at the wickets, as Tripathi departed for 5 runs, leaving Stokes to play a lone innings. Stokes went for 45 off 37 balls with 3 fours and 1 six, as Bravo had him caught by Billings.
Karn Sharma showed up late to pick two wickets for 13 runs and wrap up the innings for good.
It was a clinical performance by CSK at their new home with both bat and ball and a comprehensive win over RR by 64 runs.
BRIEF SCORES:
CSK 204/5 (S WATSON 106; S GOPAL 3/20) defeated RR 140 (B STOKES 45; K SHARMA 2/13 ) by 64 runs
