Rajasthan Royals 128 for 2 (Sooryavanshi 52, Jaiswal 38*, Kamboj 2-27) beat Chennai Super Kings 127 (Overton 43, Jadeja 2-18, Archer 2-19, Burger 2-26) by eight wickets
Archer, Burger tear through top order
It was Burger who made the opening breakthrough when he knocked Sanju Samson over in the second over. Burger bowled a perfectly pitched delivery – neither full or short – on a good length, and got it to seam away from over the wicket. Samson, who was shaping up for an inswinger, was made to look silly by the left-arm quick.
Ruturaj Gaikwad then exposed all his stumps, only to be bowled by a 143.3kph delivery from Archer. Both the CSK openers fell for 6 each, and the revamped middle order could not stop the rot.
CSK’s title-winning sides of old used to navigate such Test-match style passages of play with their all-format experience. But the team management has now pivoted to youth who tried to hit their way out of trouble, and wound up collapsing spectacularly.
Ayush Mhatre dared to hook a head-high bouncer, and was caught behind for a golden duck. Matthew Short, who got an opportunity in place of the injured Dewald Brevis, chipped a slower ball from Sandeep Sharma to midwicket to leave CSK at 38 for 4 in the sixth over.
Jadeja vs CSK
That soon became 57 for 6 after Jadeja’s double-strike in his first over. The first wicket of Sarfaraz Khan had Jadeja written all over it. He speared in a fast, flat dart that thudded into Sarfaraz’s pads, and trapped him lbw for 17 off 12 balls. Sarfaraz had come in as CSK’s Impact Sub in their bat-first XI that had Noor Ahmad slotted in at No. 8. Had CSK fared better with the bat, they may have had the option of strengthening their bowling with the potential inclusion of Gurjapneet Singh or allrounder Ramakrishna Ghosh.
Shivam Dube came out attacking as well, launching his first ball for six over wide long-on. But Jadeja quickly shifted his lines wide of off and had Dube slicing a catch to wide long-off. Jadeja bared his emotions and gave his former team-mate a send-off. He finished with 2 for 18 in his three overs and later said “pink looks good on me” with a big smile on his face during the innings break.
Sooryavanshi sizzles
CSK could’ve dismissed Sooryavanshi for a golden duck had debutant Kartik Sharma not dropped him in the first over of the chase. Matt Henry drew a mis-hit over midwicket with a hard-length delivery, but Kartik, who usually keeps wicket for Rajasthan, missed a difficult catch and parried it away to the boundary. What happened next ball? Sooryavanshi swatted it over wide long-on for the first of his five sixes.
CSK cut Sooryavanshi’s innings short on 52 off 17 balls when Sarfaraz pulled off a superb diving catch at sweeper cover off Kamboj in the seventh over. Kamboj struck again in his next over to remove Dhruv Jurel, but Jaiswal (38*) and captain Riyan Parag (14*) completed RR’s demolition of CSK.
Deivarayan Muthu is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
