37th Match, IPL: Rajasthan Royals 202 for 5 (Jaiswal 77, Jurel 34, Deshpande 2-42) beat Chennai Super Kings 170 for 6 (Dube 52, Gaikwad 47, Zampa 3-22, Ashwin 2-35) by 32 runs 

With a crushing 32-run victory over Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals returned to winning ways after losing their previous two games and moved to the top of the IPL points table.

Yashasvi Jaiswal attacked his way to 77 off 43 balls after Royals decided to bat. In the middle overs, Super Kings did make a brief comeback, but Royals scored 202 for 5, the first 200-plus total by an IPL team in Jaipur, thanks to late hitting from Dhruv Jurel (34 off 15) and Devdutt Padikkal (27* off 13).

Despite hitting his yorkers at a blistering pace, Matheesha Pathirana was unlucky to give up 48 runs in four innings, 28 of which occurred when batters were not in control of their shots.

The Super Kings didn’t get off to the right start. Adam Zampa and R Ashwin further smothered them while sharing five wickets. Only Shivam Dube stood in the way, but it was too little, too late.

Yashasvi Jaiswal leads the way for Royals

Regardless of whether it was an away game for Super Lords, they appeared to have a greater number of allies in the stands than Royals had. It affected Jaiswal and Jos Buttler, however, as they gave Royals one more flying beginning. Jaiswal hit Akash Singh for two fours off the first two balls of the match, followed by one more in the over, to get the game started. In the seamer’s subsequent over, he was even more severe, scoring three fours and one six. Buttler hit Tushar Deshpande in the middle for two fours.

With seamers going for bounty, MS Dhoni went to turn, and Maheesh Theekshana dumbfounded a three-run. However, in the sixth over, Buttler took the spinner for two fours, hitting length balls off the back foot over his head both times, bringing the Royals’ total to 64 for no loss.

With Buttler’s wicket, Ravindra Jadeja broke the first-innings stand, but Jaiswal continued to advance. Coming into this game, Jaiswal had scored 81 off 70 in the center overs. This evening, there was no stoppage; he crushed 37 off 22 after the field limitations were lifted.

Jurel and Padikkal pick up after a brief lull

In the 14th over, Deshpande removed Sanju Samson and Jaiswal to temporarily halt the scoring rate. From overs 14 to 17, Royals oversaw just 28 runs and lost three wickets en route. There were signs that Super Kings might keep them below 200, but Jurel and Padikkal, who finished at No. 6, tossed their bat around. They didn’t necessarily find the center yet the runs came thick and quick. Royals were helped by sloppy fielding by Super Kings, who ransacked 56 in the final four overs, leaving Dhoni visibly furious on multiple occasions.

Zampa, Ashwin keep Super Kings on back foot

Zampa got a chance because Trent Boult got hurt. What’s more, the leg spinner had an effect on his very first over. He bowled the final power play over with Devon Conway hitting a ball to mid-off.

Ruturaj Gaikwad was attempting to make up for the slow start that Super Kings had. When he tried to attack Zampa, he was caught at long-on and had reached 47 off 28 balls. By getting rid of Ajinkya Rahane and Ambati Rayudu in the 11th over of the innings, R Ashwin pushed Super Kings even further behind.

Dube, Moeen fight back

With 130 required from nine overs, Dube and Moeen undermined a fightback. In the subsequent three overs, the pair hit four sixes and a four, bringing the total down to 90 from the previous five. Samson by and by went to Zampa, and he didn’t dishearten his commander. Moeen also scored a boundary when Dube launched him into the stands; however, Zampa had Moeen under-edging a ball to Samson with his fifth ball of the over.

However, Dube continued the conflict. In the 17th over, he hit Jason Holder for a six and two fours. Jadeja took Sandeep Sharma for two fours in the next over, but scoring 46 in the final two overs was too difficult.