IPL 2020 | CSK vs RR: Buttler holds fort to lend Rajasthan two vital points

Brief scores: 

Chennai Super Kings 125/5 in 20 overs (MS Dhoni 28, Ravindra Jadeja 35*)

lost to 

Rajasthan Royals 126/3 in 17.3 overs (Jos Buttler 70*; Deepak Chahar 2-18) by seven wickets.

Jos Buttler's stroke-filled 70* bailed Rajasthan Royals from choppy waters in their quest of ticking 126 as Chennai Super Kings witness in horror their gold spoon morphing into a wooden variant. Decaying in the unfamiliar territories of the rock bottom of the points table, MS Dhoni and his troops are virtually out of contention for the play-offs jostle, fragmenting to their seventh defeat of the campaign in the 37th match of the Indian Premier League on Monday, October 19 at Abu Dhabi.

Hazlewood delivers the goods

Both franchises amended their speed department, with CSK offering a debut to Josh Hazlewood and RR bringing on board Ankit Rajpoot. With leggie Karn Sharma bleeding 34 at an economy of 11.30 versus Delhi Capitals and was plausibly asked to carry drinks as CSK roped in veteran Piyush Chawla. In retrospect, Hazlewood was a silver lining to their cloud, wrapping up his maiden appearance of the season with competent figures of 4-0-19-1. 

CSK make a mountain out of a molehill

Yes, the pitch wasn't exactly a batsman's friend, but that's not to take anything away from CSK's discipline early on. The swing king, Deepak Chahar had Ben Stokes dragging on following a couple of authoritative slaps. Robin Uthappa premeditated a scoop only for Hazlewood to bang it in short as MS Dhoni settled beneath the dolly. 

Sanju Samson holds an untoward reputation of being a one-hit-wonder ever since he burst on the domestic scene, and we're afraid that his recent performances in the ongoing edition are doing little to manifest otherwise. Chahar strangled him down the leg side as Dhoni snaffled the dying chance in the webbing between the thumb and forefinger.

Buttler the red signal to CSK's lorry

RR were posed to lose their fourth on 28 but the snickometer tracked a faint edge, much to the surprise of Steve Smith himself who'd sauntered past thirty-yard circle, under the impression that he was nothing but dead plumb. Though the skipper took a while to drift into his element, Jos Buttler had a spring in his step. He reverse-swept Ravindra Jadeja with aplomb before timing from the screws a few not-so-bad deliveries by Shardul Thakur. 

Piyush Chawla too endured a tough day at the office, with Buttler leathering him for three consecutive boundaries in the 15th over and a clean-as-a-whistle six later for good measure. The 98-run association between the senior pros yielded a dampener in any CSK plans of engineering a heist, as normalcy was established in the aftermath of last night's mayhem.

How did Rajasthan's attack fare?

Pretty clinically. For starters, Jofra Archer breathed fire. He roughed up Sam Curran with some nasty chin music before worming out Faf du Plessis thanks to a limp square dab. Shane Watson grinded a pull through cow corner and relished a fortuitous lemon cut off Kartik Tyagi, but the pacer fought redemption as his aerial flick found catching short mid-wicket to precision.

Under the radar, but mightily effective

Rajasthan's spin twins threw their hats in the ring forthwith, numbing CSK to a brittle 56/4. While Shreyas Gopal proved Curran's nemesis on 22, Rahul Tewatia guiled Ambati Rayudu into an agricultural swat after technology kept his nose in a close lbw shave. The partners-in-crime were at the very heart of RR's middle-overs compression, baring an exemplary 32 amongst them and snaring a reward apiece.

Jadeja being squandered at number six?

MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja cobbled a fifty-partnership to usher CSK towards the light at the end of the tunnel. The duo refrained from heedless pomp and show, exchanging strike and smothering a few boundaries along the carpet. It was a tailor-made platform for the left-right combo to go for the jugular, but Dhoni was nobbled a millimetre short in his pursuit to steal a brace off Archer's fumble. The firebrand quick even put an absolute sitter down to reprieve Kedar Jadhav. For all his spine-chilling pace, it's imperative he goes the extra mile to work on his fielding. Jadeja presented a strong case for promotion in the batting order, unfurling a treasure worth 35 to spare CSK a few blushes.

What's next in store?

Rajasthan Royals are gathering steam, slowly but surely, but these top-order collapses aren't going to serve them well in the long run. And they desperately want crown jewel Samson to wake up from hibernation mode. He'd have a fair crack at doing so when he plies his trade against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday, October 22.

Chennai Super Kings looked like they brought a pencil to a lightsabre fight in their nightmarish stint this year. The bags will be packed soon, and thus salvaging pride and extending opportunities to fringe players would be high on their agenda as Mumbai Indians fling down the gauntlet on Friday, October 23.

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