IPL 2018: Watson's century helps CSK beat Rajasthan Royals by 64 runs

Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings had a comfortable win against Ajinkya Rahane's Rajasthan Royals in the IPL 2018 in Pune helped by Shane Watson third century in IPL history

Chennai Super Kings handed Rajasthan Royals a crushing 64-run defeat at MCA Stadium in match 17 of Indian Premier League (IPL 2018). Chasing 205 runs, Rajasthan Royals never looked like winning as wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals. Rahane, Klaasen, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, and others could not cope with the pressure of a huge total and threw their wickets away. Earlier, on the back of Shane Watson's century, CSK made 204 runs. Watson was dropped by Rahul Tripathi when he was playing in single digits. The dropped catch proved very costly. This win will improve CSK's position on VIVO IPL points table 2018.

In pursuit of 205, Rajasthan Royals had an abysmal start as they lost three quick wickets inside the powerplay. Sanju Samson, Klaasen and Rahane threw their wickets trying to score quickly. The required run rate climbed up and the Rajasthan Royals batsmen could not do much about it. Chennai Super Kings bowlers kept it really tight.

While batting first, Chennai Super Kings made 204-5 in their allotted 20 overs against Rajasthan Royals. Shane Watson struck a brilliant century and helped his team cross 200-mark. Rahu Tripathi dropped a sitter at slips in the first over of the innings and RR paid the price. 

Earlier, in Match 17 of IPL 2018, Rajasthan Royals (RR) won the toss and asked Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to bat at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. Both the teams will be fighting hard to climb up the Vivo IPL 2018 points table. 




Rajasthan Royals innings update: Over by over

Over 1: Klaasen and Ajinkya Rahane to open for RR. Deepak Chahar to open for CSK. Rahane begins the onslaught. Six, four. 14 runs from the over. RR14-0

Over 2: Shradul Thakur comes in. Klaasen is clean bowled. Sanju Samson comes in. Six from the over. RR 20-1

Over 3: Sanju Samson is gone. Deepak Chahar takes his wicket. Ben Stokes comes in. Massive breakthrough for CSK. RR: 25-2

Over 4: Thakur continues. Singles flowing easily. six runs from the over. RR: 31-2

Over 5: Chahar continues, Rahane steps out, and he is bowled. What a huge blow for Rajasthan. RR in all sorts of trouble. Three runs and a wicket. RR: 34-3

Over 6: Shane Watson is the new bowler. Almost bowls a maiden, What tight line and length, This the discipline that is needed. RR 35-3

Over 7: Imran Tahir comes in. Six and a four, that is the over RR was looking for. 14 from it. RR 49-3

Over 8: Ben Stokes trying to play his shots. RR: 57-3

Over 9: Watson gives away 10 runs. RR 67-3

Over 10: Tahir continues. Two, four and four singles. That makes it 10 from the over. RR 77-3

Over 11: Dwayne Bravo comes in. First ball he gets Jos Butler. He goes for 22. End of the over. RR 84-4

Over 12: 10 runs from Tahir's over. 94-4

Over 13: Bravo gets a wicket. Rahul Tripathi is out. Gone for 5. RR: 103-5

Over 14: Flat six, Ben Stokes hits this one high in the air. He is gone. RR heading for a huge defeat. 

Over 15: Now Gowtham is gone, Wickets falling like nine pins. 

Rajasthan Royals innings analysis after end of match

Chasing a mammoth target of 205, Ajinkya Rahane and Heinrich Klaasen came to open the innings for Rajasthan Royals. Deepak Chahar came to bowl the first over as he started with a wide ball. Klaasen got dropped at first slip by Shane Watson. Chahar gave 4 runs in first four balls before Rahane hit a straight-batted six straight down the ground followed by a French cut four to end the over. Shardul Thakur came to bowl the second over and hit for four of the first ball. Thakur took the wicket of Klaasen, who scored 7 runs off 7 balls. Sanju Samson came to the crease after the dismissal of Klaasen. Deepak Chahar came to bowl the 3rd over and gave 5 runs and took the inform Samson who played the same shot he played in the previous match and got the same result get caught. After the end of 6 overs, Rajasthan Royals was 25 for 2. Ben Stokes came to the crease after the wicket of Sanju Samson.

Shardul Thakur continued to bowl from the other end and gave 6 runs in his 2nd over. Rajasthan Royals’ batsmen looked clueless against CSK bowlers as they failed to score quick runs. Chahar came to bowl the 5th over and clean bowled RR captain Rahane, who came down the pitch to hit the ball out of the park, another knuckleball got a wicket in the IPL 2018. Chahar gave away 3 runs in his 3rd over. Jos Butler came to crease after the dismissal of Ajinkya Rahane. Shane Watson came to bowl the last over of the powerplay and gave away runs. After the end of the 6 over Rajasthan Royals was 35 for 3 with Ben Stokes ( 7 runs 11 balls) and Jos Butler ( 1 runs off 4 balls)

Deepak Chahar came to bowl the 7th over and gave only 8 runs as he finishes off his full quota of overs with the figure of 4-0-30-2. Imran Tahir came to bowl the 8th over of the inning and Butler hit the 4th ball for 4 straight down the ground and finished the over with a six straight down the ground. Tahir gave away 14 runs in his first over. Shane Watson came to bowl the 9th over and gave away runs as RR looked to break free. Watson gave away 10 runs. After end of the 9th over Rajasthan Royals needed 138 runs from 11 overs with a required run-rate of 12.54 rpo.

After the wicket of Ben Stokes, Rajasthan Royals fell like a peg of cards and in 4 over RR batsmen managed to score 39 runs before Karn Sharma took two consecutive wickets in 9 deliveries to win the match for CSK. Rajasthan only managed to score 140 runs as their batting never clicked. Chennai Super Kings won the match by 64 runs which will give a big boost to their net run rate

Chennai Super Kings innings update: Over by over

Over 1: Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson to open for CSK. Stuart Binny to start it for RR. Binny starts off with a no ball, FREE HIT. Watson hits down the ground for four. First runs for CSK. Width on offer outside the off stump, smashed for four. It was in the air for a while. This is a better line, dot ball. Watson edges, dropped in the slips, that was a sitter. Rahul Tripathi dropped a dolly. Binny can't believe it. Outside the off, Watson hits it for four. End of over. CSK: 14-0

Over 2: Krishnappa Gowtham is the new bowler. Watson takes a single, so does Rayudu. Watson swings hard, just for two. Again, Width on offer, Watson hits a straight six.  Watson cuts, is it put down again? One run. CSK: 25-0.

Over 3: Jaydev Unadkat is into the attack. Dot ball. Good line. Again, width offered, and Watson gives it the treatment, six runs. Cuts, straight to slip. That is a better line. Onto the body. Watson pulls, flat six. CSK: 37-0

Over 4: Ben Stokes comes in, Rayudu smashes for four. Steps out, just one. Taken a single. barely misses Rayudu's edge. Well fielded at point. Down the leg, gone for four. CSK: 48-0

Over 5: Ben Laughlin comes to the attack. One run. Cheeky single. The change has finally worked. Ambati Rayudu is caught behind. Suresh Raina is back. Single to Watson. Bouncer to Raina, barely manages to pull. CSK: 53-1

Over 6:  Ben Stokes to continue. Inside edge to the pads. Another dot. Raina gives himself room, hits Stokes for a cracking four. Now behind the wicket on the leg side for four. Good old Raina is back. On the pads, Raina hits for four, Stokes has clueless look on his face. No slip in play, Raina deliberately edges one for four. CSK 69-1

Over 7: Gowtham is back. Just five runs from the over. 

Over 8: Shreyas Gopal is into the attack. Nice line, one run. Dot. CSK: 78-1

Over 9: Gowtham is back. Watson dispatches him for six. Now he hits him for four on the off side. 50 for Watson. Here is another one. Single. Raina takes a single and keeps the strike. CSK: 97-1

Over 10: Jaydev Unadkat is back. Single. Very decent line. Room on the off side, four for Raine. Runs coming thick fast, very intelligent strike rotation. Now down the leg side for four. CSK: 107-1

Over 11: Ben Laughlin to continue. Gets hit for four by Raina. Watson pulls, yet another flat six. 

Over 12: Raina is out. caught in the deep. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the new man in.  CSK: 131-2

Over 13: Stuart Binny continues, Watson flicks for four. Another one. Binny bowls wide. He has no line and length. Another four to Watson. Single to Watson. Now Dhoni cuts for four. CSK 150-2

Over 14: Gopal back. Single to Watson. Dhoni hits to long on, caught. Dhoni out for 5. Sam Billings is the new man in. Wrapped onto the pads. First runs for Sam. Single to Watson. Just three runs from it. Very clean over. CSK: 153-3

Over 15: Unadkat to continue. Watson cuts for four. Single to Watson. Dot ball. Single to Billings. Watson pulls for a single, great confidence in his strokeplay. Billings makes some room, just for single. CSK: 161-3

Over 16: Gopal continues. Sam Billings pulls and is caught by Ben Stokes. Gone for just 3. Bravo comes in. Dot ball. Single taken. Watson pushed to the long-on for double, moves on to 93. Single taken. CSK: 165-4

Over 17: Laughlin continues, Watson hits four. Single. Watson moves to 99. Bravo hits four behind the wicket. Misses. Steps out misses again. Bravo plays dot. CSK 175-4

Chennai Super Kings innings analysis at the end of innings

Put in to bat first by Rajasthan Royals Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu came to open the batting for Chennai Super Kings and gave CSK a flying start. Shane Watson scored the most of the runs. Rayudu and Watson collected 14 runs if the Binny who came to bowl the first over. Gowtham came to bowl the 2nd over and gave away 11 runs. Undakat Came to bowl the 3rd over and hit for 2 sixes to make it 12 of the over by Watson. The run feast continued for CSK in the 4th over as Stoke gave away 11 runs. After the end of the 4 overs, CSK was 48 runs with Shane Watson (36 runs off 19 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (11 runs off the 6 balls) on the crease.

After giving 48 runs in first 5 overs, Rahane asked Laughlin to bowl the 5th over and he delivered for his captain as he took the wicket of Rayudu and gave only 5 runs. Ambati Rayudu scored 12 runs off 8 balls with a strike rate of 150. Suresh Raina came to bat after the dismissal of Rayudu and hit stokes for 4 consecutive fours of Stokes 2nd over, who came to bowl the last over of the powerplay. CSK scored 69 runs for 1 with in the first 6 overs of the powerplay. Shane Watson was playing at 38 runs off 21 balls and Suresh Raina (18 runs off 8 balls) was at the crease. Gowtham came to bowl the 7th over and gave only 5 runs. Shreyas Gopal came to bowl the 8th over and only gave 4 runs as he didn’t allow CSK batsmen to score. Shane Watson compensated for last two over by hitting 2 sixes and a 4 of Gowtham’s 3rd over to collect 19 runs of it. After the end of 9 overs CSK was 97/1 with Shane Watson (61 runs off the 31 balls) and Suresh Raina (23 runs off the 16 balls) at the crease.

CSK is looking to post the biggest target for RR in IPL 2018 as they are scoring in the excess of 11 runs per over. Shreyas Gopal came to bowl the 12th over and hit for 8 runs in his first 4 balls before he took Raina’s wicket as Gowtham took excellent diving effort at deep midwicket. Suresh Raina scored 46 runs off 29 balls with a strike rate of 158.62 with the help of 9 fours. MS Dhoni came to bat after the dismissal of Raina.

Shreyas Gopal came to bowl the 14^th over and took the wicket of captain Dhoni who got out while trying to hit Gopal out of the park. Dhoni scored 5 runs off 3 balls. Sam Billings came to crease after the dismissal of MS Dhoni. Gopal gave away only 3 runs as Billings played 2 dot balls. Unadkat came to bowl the 15^th over and Watson undercut him for 4 in the slip region and took a single the next ball to get into 90s. Unadkat gave away 8 runs in his 3^rd over as CSK was scoring with an excess of 10 runs per over. Gopal came to bowl the 16^th over and took the wicket of Billings of the first ball of his 4^th over. Billings got out while trying to hit the bowler for six and Stokes take an easy catch. Billings scored 3 runs off 7 balls. Dwayne Bravo came to the crease after the dismissal of Sam Billings. Gopal gave away only 4 runs in his final over. Shreyas Gopal was the best among the RR bowlers as he gave only 20 runs and took 3 wickets in his full quota of overs. Laughlin came to bowl the 17^th over and Watson hit him for a four as he was nearing his century. Laughlin gave 10 runs in his 3^rd over. After the end of 17^th CSK was 175 runs for loss of 4 wickets with Shane Watson (99 runs off 50 balls) and Bravo(6 runs off 6 balls) on the crease. Undakat came to bowl the 18^th over and Shane Watson scored his third IPL century taking a single in the point region. Unadkat gave away 9 runs as Watson completes his century

Undakat came to bowl the 18th over and Shane Watson scored his third IPL century taking a single in the point region. Unadkat gave away 9 runs as Watson completes his century.

Ben Stokes came to bowl the 19th over and Bravo greeted him with a four. Stokes gave away 12 runs in his 3rd over. Laughlin came to bowl the final over of the innings and gave away 7 runs and finally RR took the wicket of Shane Wastson who scored 106 runs off 57 balls with a strike rate of 185.96 with the help of 9 fours and 6 sixes as CSK scored 204 in full quota of overs.

Rajasthan Royals needed to score 205 runs in 20 overs.

Here are the squads for both the teams:

Chennai Super Kings Playing XI: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Billings, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir, Changes: Suresh Raina replaces Murli Vijay. Karn Sharma replaces Harbhajan Singh

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane(c), Rahul Tripathi, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler(w), Heinrich Klaasen, Stuart Binny, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Laughlin. Changes: H Klaasen replaces Darcy Short. Stuart Binny replaces Dhawal Kulkarni. 

Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the two franchises that are returning in Indian Premier League 2018 after serving a two-year ban in the aftermath of the 2013 spot-fixing scandal, will come face-to-face for the first time at Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune on April 20. After losing their previous Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) clash by a whisker, CSK will aim to start off with a win against Rajasthan Royals at their new home ground -- all Chennai matches have had to be moved out of their original home venue of Chepauk Stadium amid a political unrest over the Cauvery water-sharing issue. With two wins and two defeats, Ajinkya Rahane-led Rajasthan Royals are placed fifth with four points in Vivo IPL points table, while the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings also have an equal number of points after two wins from three matches, they are ranked fourth. A win at MCA Stadium will consolidate their position in the Vivo IPL points table.
 
Rajasthan Royals, under new captain Ajinkya Rahane, had a bad start to the campaign but they did well later with two back-to-back wins, before Kolkata Knight Riders outclassed them by seven wickets in their previous match. On a slow wicket, Rajasthan Royals failed to stitch partnerships and ended up with a below-par total of 160-8 on the scoreboard, which KKR chased down with ease, losing just three wickets. Rajasthan Royals' mixed show in IPL 2018 so far has been a result of big guns misfiring at crucial junctures. Ben Stokes and Jaydev Undadkat are yet to make a mark in the IPL tournament, whereas D’Arcy Short looked clueless against spinners despite coming into IPL 2018 on the back of some fantastic form in the T20s.

 
While Chennai Super Kings have been immensely entertaining in all the three games they have played so far -- having won the first two, and then Dhoni’s career-best IPL knock bringing them very close to a victory in their match against Kings XI Punjab.



In their first match, against Mumbai Indians, Dwayne Bravo came to their rescue with a 30-ball 68 against. In the second, it was Sam Billings who gave the finishing touch to their superb run-chase against Kolkata Knight Riders in a high-scoring match. The biggest talking point, though, has been their 'new home'. About 1,000 CSK fans left for Pune from Chennai on Thursday by a special train to watch the match in Pune, thanks to an arrangement made by the franchise. But the CSK management will be more concerned about the nature of the surface that they will be playing on after stocking their side with spinners in order to take advantage of the Chennai track.

 
Here are a few things to look forward to in today’s Chennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Rajasthan Royals (RR) match to be played at CSK's new home ground, Pune's MCA Stadium:
 
 
CSK fans travel to Pune on a special train: Chennai Super Kings may not be playing its home matches at the M A Chidambaram stadium here anymore, but would not be short of support as fans are travelling to Pune for cheering them in tomorrow's game against Rajasthan Royals. About 1,000 CSK fans left for Pune from here this morning by a special train to attend the match in Pune, thanks to an arrangement made by the franchise. CSK's home matches were moved out of Chennai over security concerns following protests by pro-Tamil groups on the Cauvery issue leading to the first home game against KKR on April 10. "It is entirely an initiative taken by CSK fans and it was taken forward by the CSK management," a CSK official said.
 
CSK coach and Raina 'sad' on home venue shifting: After the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) home matches were shifted following the Cauvery water dispute, which has created a volatile situation in the southern city, several members of the franchise have expressed their disappointment on missing out on playing in their home ground but hoped that the issue would soon be resolved. Expressing his dismay, CSK coach Stephen Fleming tweeted: "Sad to be leaving Chennai today. Great to be back and again experience the love and passion the Tamil Nadu fans have for cricket and CSK. I trust a 'peaceful' resolution is found soon for the problems at hand. Thanks to everyone for making the team so welcome." Batsman Suresh Raina tweeted: "Will miss playing on our home ground and entertaining our #Chennai fans this season...You are always in our hearts." The team's batting coach, Mike Hussey, tweeted: "Very sad that we have to play our remaining home games away from Chennai. Feeling for the players and the fans but also hoping for a peaceful and swift resolution to the current problems. Thanks for the incredible support of all the CSK fans."
 
Harbhajan Singh 'heartbroken' over shifting of IPL 2018 matches out of Chennai: Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was bought for Rs 20 million by CSK at the IPL Player Auction, said that he hopes the situation gets resolved soon and matches come back to Chennai as the fans have waited for two long years to see the team play in front of them. Harbhajan tweeted,"Heart breaking news..no more ipl games in chennai.. fans have waited two years for CSK to play in front of them at home..hope all the issues get solved soon and matches comes back to Chennai soon...Thank u for your love,wishes, prayers would be needed all the time." Meanwhile, Former Australian all-rounder Shane Watson said, " Very sad for our team @CskIPLTeam and the fans here in Chennai that we won't be playing any more games here this season. The atmosphere last game was incredible. Let's hope this situation in Tamil Nadu has sorted out asap."
 
What Ajinkya Rahane said after RR’s loss against KKR: Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane blamed himself for his team's seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) game on Wednesday. "I feel it was a different wicket from what we played on against Delhi Daredevils. It was slow and ball was also keeping low. I feel it was my responsibility to take that innings forward," Rahane told reporters after the game here at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
 
Here is how CSK and RR compare head to head in their IPL matches so far:
 
Overall
Matches played: 17
Chennai Super Kings won: 11
Rajasthan Royals won: 6
 
Trivia ahead of today’s match between KXIP and RR
 

• The Rajasthan Royals have been very good in getting the early breakthrough; in their four matches so far, opponents have only managed opening partnerships of 6, 0, 4 & 1.
• Suresh Raina will have the opportunity of getting back to the top of the list of the top run-getters in the IPL; Virat Kohli currently sits atop the list with 4619 runs, while Raina is 61 behind with an aggregate of 4619 runs.