RR vs CSK: Tushar Deshpande's double-wicket over puts little brake on hosts' power-packed innings

The Indian Premier League 2023 continued its exhilarating cricketing action as Rajasthan Royals took on Chennai Super Kings on Thursday, April 27 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bat first and the decision was backed by their openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who added 86 runs for the first wicket off just 50 balls.

Rajasthan were in the driver’s seat after 13 overs as they scored 125/1 with Jaiswal (73* off 41) and captain Samson (17* off 16) at the crease. Seeing the game running away, CSK captain MS Dhoni gave the ball to Tushar Deshpande and the seamer didn’t disappoint as he ended up removing both the set batters to get his side back in the game.

Deshpande first dismissed Samson on the first ball as he bowled an off-cutter which the RR captain failed to read and ended up hitting straight to Ruturaj Gaikwad at long-on. Later in the over, he got smacked for four on the offside by well-set Jaiswal who was marching towards his first IPL hundred. 

However, the right-arm seamer had the last laugh as he once again bowled a slower off cutter and the southpaw ended up top-edging to Ajinkya Rahane at Point. The catch ended Jaiswal’s magnificent knock of 77 off 43 balls where he clobbered eight fours and four sixes.

Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal take RR to 202/5 in the first innings

Meanwhile, Deshpande brought CSK back into the game as he gave away just seven runs in his over and picked up two crucial wickets for his side. Chennai further got another important scalp in the 17^th over as Maheesh Theekshana cleaned up the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer to leave Rajasthan at 146/4 after 16.1 overs.

However, the joy was short-lived as Dhruv Jurel (34 off 15) and Devdutt Padikkal (23* off 13) gave the perfect finish to RR’s innings and took them to 202/5 in their allotted 20 overs. Deshpande was the pick of the bowlers for CSK as he picked 2/42 in four overs while Theekshana (1/24) and Ravindra Jadeja (1/32) picked up one wicket each.