IPL 2018: Match 17, CSK vs RR, Review - Shane Watson and bowlers walk out with a swagger of a win

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have owned their adopted home in style by defeating Rajasthan Royals by a massive margin of 64 runs. Shane Watson smacked a sensational century with the bat which helped the Men in Yellow post an above-par total in the first innings. The bowlers then, put in their best performance of the season so far and restricted the explosive batsmen of the visitors. However, it was Watson who was the hero of the day by distance and CSK now sit pretty at the top of the table.

Ajinkya Rahane, the skipper of the Royals, opted to field first after winning the toss which has been the trend this season so far. They included Heinrich Klaasen and Stuart Binny at the expense of D’Arcy Short and Dhawal Kulkarni. Even the hosts brought in Karn Sharma and decided to bench their most experienced bowler Harbhajan Singh. They got a big boost as Suresh Raina returned back to fit in place of Murali Vijay.

Watto show

Shane Watson was dropped in the very first over by Rahul Tripathi and probably dropped the game as well as the former Australian cricketer took full of their lacklustre bowling. He was brutal in his hitting especially in the powerplays which set CSK off to post a mountain with the bat. His pick up shots were brilliant which proved that the 36-year-old still had that power in him. Meanwhile, after Ambati Rayudu’s wicket, Suresh Raina walked in who missed his first game after playing a massive 158 matches consecutively in T20 format.

He looked like the old Raina whose shots absolutely were pleasing to watch and raced to 46 off just 29 deliveries. Unfortunately, MS Dhoni couldn’t create his magic as Shreyas Gopal got better off him thanks to a good catch from Krishnappa Gowtham. Despite the wickets kept on falling at the other end, Watto had no issues as he just blazed away towards his century and reached the milestone off his 51st delivery which was even faster than Chris Gayle the other day.

Interestingly, CSK hit more fours than sixes which was impressive and also proved that one doesn’t have to hit all the shots in the air in order to post the total in excess of 200. In the end, they eventually scored 204 runs for the loss of 5 wickets after their 20 overs.

Flat Chase

Royals needed someone to play like Watson and they had the likes of Heinrich Klaasen and Ben Stokes in their ranks to change the game on their head. The former also opened with his skipper Ajinkya Rahane but the move failed as Shardul Thakur castled Klaasen with a beauty of a delivery which pitched just short of a good length and the batsman played a nothing shot only to see his stumps shattered. The wicket set the tone for the Men in Yellow as they squeezed the runs completely and the batsmen got out succumbing to the pressure.

Most importantly, their new-ball bowlers Deepak Chahar and Thakur struck upfront for the first time which worked wonders for them. Royals were three-down inside the powerplay overs which pegged them back considerably. Jos Buttler and Stokes formed a 45-run stand but they mostly struggled to get the ball away and the required run rate only increased with every passing over. Almost every bowler who came into the attack scalped a wicket at least apart from Ravindra Jadeja.

Stokes tried his best and looked in form like he was last year at the same venue but even it was a tough going for him. It looked possible for Royals to gun down any chase until he was there but in the 15th over, he mistimed a lofted shot off Imran Tahir and was caught at long on where Sam Billings was stationed. The wheels came off soon after his wicket with the visitors were not even able to play their full quota of 20 overs. They were bundled out for just 140 runs as Karn Sharma cleaned up the tail.

CSK, by the virtue of this win, have climbed to the top of the table where they usually like to be and Rajasthan Royals have to do some soul searching as they lost their way a bit after playing 5 matches now.

Brief Scores

Chennai Super Kings 204/5 after 20 overs (S Watson 106, S Raina 46; S Gopal 3/20)

Rajasthan Royals 140 after 18.3 overs (B Stokes 45; K Sharma 2/13, S Thakur 2/18)

Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 64 runs

Man of the Match: Shane Watson

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