IPL 2023: Rajasthan Royals roar in MS Dhoni’s den

Synopsis: A puzzling promotion didn’t end up hurting Rajsthan as their spinners weaved magic on a slow wicket at Chepauk to deny MS Dhoni’s team in a thriller
Up until the last ball of the match, the 38,000 fans who had turned up at the MA Chidambaram Stadium were on their feet. CSK were at 113/6 in 15 overs, chasing 176 for win. It was an uphill task but hope floated as MS Dhoni had just joined Ravindra Jadeja in the middle. AFter a couple of quiet overs, Dhoni first and then Jadeja found boundaries to keep Chennai in the chase. But still with two overs to go, CSK needed 40. And after Ravindra Jadeja brought it down to 21 runs needed from the last over, it was over to MS Dhoni.
Two wides later and a dot ball later, the equation was 19 off 5. Dhoni then turned back the clock, swatting medium pacer Sandeep Sharma for two successive sixes as Rajasthan looked rattled for the first time. Not many pacers can hold their nerve in such situations when Dhoni is in this sort of mood with a capacity crowd waiting for more. But, Sandeep, who delivered a yorker earlier in the over, switched around the wicket and nailed two successive deliveries in the blockhole to hand Chennai a loss at home.Although the Chepauk crowd didn’t get to see their favourite son hand them another ‘I was there moment’, they got to see their local boy R Ashwin deliver a masterclass. It was the off-spinner who helped Rajasthan Royals take control of the game from 10th over onwards. Two wickets for 25 runs were his figures from four overs and along with Chahal (2/27), they had put the brakes on the Chennai innings.

WHAT. A. GAME! 👏 👏
Another day, another last-ball finish in #TATAIPL 2023! 😎@sandeep25a holds his nerve as @rajasthanroyals seal a win against #CSK! 👍 👍
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/IgV0Ztjhz8#CSKvRR pic.twitter.com/vGgNljKvT6
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 12, 2023
A puzzling promotion
It was a story of two halves for Rajasthan with the bat. They scored 88 runs in the first eight overs for the loss of just one wicket, and scored their remaining 87 runs off the remaining 12 overs and lost seven wickets. When Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal were picking the vacant spots with ridiculous ease, they had not only managed to gain an upper hand, but also had silenced the Chepauk crowd. Even Maheesh Theekshana, the mystery spinner the Super Kings were hoping would solve their problem at the death, wasn’t spared when he came on in the powerplay. Padikkal greeted him with a couple of boundaries in his first over as Rajasthan started cautiously after the early loss of Yashasvi Jaiswal. 28/1 off four overs made for a good reading as far as the Super Kings were concerned.
But little did they know what was coming ahead of them. Off the first ball of Theekshana’s second over, Moeen Ali dropped Padikkal at first slip and that opened the floodgates as Rajasthan picked 17, 12, 11, 18 runs of the next four overs as Chennai looked lost. With Mitchell Santner benched for Theekshana, for Chennai to stay in the contest, Jadeja had to deliver. His first over had cost 11 runs and despite being a vital cog in Chennai’s attack, the left-arm spinner hasn’t had the best of returns at the venue. But on an evening when Chennai needed him, Jadeja responded, bringing his team into the game.
Padikkal, who looked at his fluent best, went a slog sweep which Devon Conway pouched at square-leg and gestured at the crowd to increase the decibel levels. Two deliveries later, Jadeja got one to grip and turn from the middle stump and Sanju Samson saw his off-stump pegged back. Still 88/3, Rajasthan were very much in command. But instead of taking the attack to the opposition, they chose to tread cautiously and promoted R Ashwin ahead of Shimron Hetmyer. That brought a period where Rajasthan went 33 deliveries without a boundary (between 7.6 and 13.3 overs) as Jadeja and medium pacer Sisanda Magala applied the breaks.

.@imjadeja on 🔥
He gets the wickets of Devdutt Padikkal and #RR captain Sanju Samson in the same over 👏 👏@ChennaiIPL are on a roll here 👍 👍
Watch those wickets 🔽
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/IgV0ZtiJJA#TATAIPL | #CSKvRR pic.twitter.com/4KwaPeh420
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 12, 2023
From there on Rajasthan went on a recovery mode with Hetmyer providing the finishing touches to help the team pick 40 runs off the last five overs. A total of 175/8, with spinners Ashwin, Adam Zampa and Yuzvendra Chahal in their ranks looked good enough despite the onset of dew.
Spinners weave their magic
Chennai’s chase depended a lot on how their batting unit would go against Rajasthan spinners. Having chosen a different strip for the game – one that was slow and had plenty of turn (the same one used for India vs Australia ODI last month), Chennai had their work cut out. And from the moment Ruturaj Gaikad perished in the third over, the task kept getting harder and harder for Chennai.
Not many teams can beat Chennai in their own game at home. But if there is one team in the tournament that could be at home in these conditions, it was always going to be Rajasthan with their varied spin attack. Conway and Ajinkya Rahane stitched 68-run partnership for the second wicket in 7.1 overs, not letting the required run-rate to get out of their reach, but that stand also didn’t cause any major issue for Rajasthan. Both might be good against spinners, but they are two old-fashioned batsmen who don’t have power-hitting in their armoury. But you could see them building a platform for the rest of the batters to cash in on as it was getting to a point where both were looking to take that extra bit of risk in search of some quick runs.

2⃣ fine catches
2⃣ quick wickets
Watch how @rajasthanroyals struck in quick succession 🎥 🔽 #TATAIPL | #CSKvRR pic.twitter.com/LCtZKQFqRt
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 12, 2023
And it was the local boy who started the slide for Chennai. Having conceded 10 runs in the first over he bowled, Ashwin saw that the leg-spinners Zampa and Chahal didn’t get much purchase off the pitch as dew set in to complicate matters. As much as this is Dhoni’s den, it is Ashwin’s too. No other bowler has taken more wickets than his 48 at this venue and in his second over he removed Rahane, who was trapped LBW while trying to play the sweep. Then in his third over, he dismissed Shivam Dube. It was a classical set up from the off-spinner, who after bowling five deliveries that turned away, got one to go straight with the angle and Dube was trapped plumb in front.
Once Ashwin got hold of the game its grip, Zampa and Chahal did their part, accounting for Moeen Ali, Impact Player Ambati Rayudu and Conway as the Super Kings slipped to 113/6 the end of the 15th over.