Chennai Super Kings registered a closely fought four-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in the 25th game of the Indian Premier League played in Jaipur. Chennai Super Kings managed to win come out on top courtesy from a last-ball six from Mitchell Santner.
In pursuit of 152 runs, Chennai got off to a worse possible start as Shane Watson was dismissed for a duck. Suresh Raina also perished quickly after falling short of his crease due to a direct hit from pace bowler Jofra Archer.
Left-arm medium pace Jaydev Unadkat dismissed Faf du Plessis in the fourth over of the innings to see Chennai in all sorts of trouble. Kedhar Jadhav also failed to produce a score as Archer picked up his first wicket due to a stunning catch from Ben Stokes at point region.
MS Dhoni came to crease and formed a nice partnership with Ambati Rayudu to see rebuild the innings for Chennai. The duo put on a 95-run partnership to keep Chennai well in the hunt to win the game. Rajasthan bowlers did not allow Chennai to score easy runs.
Dhoni, who notched up another half-century for Chennai this season, looked in discomfort at the back end of the innings. However, Ben Stokes dismissed Dhoni in the final over to see Chennai needing 8 runs off 3 balls.
Controversy irrupted soon after as Dhoni walked out to the middle as umpire failed to call a no-ball. Stokes bowled an erratic over and paid the price as Mitchell Santner smashed a six of the last ball to seal a thrilling win for Chenna
Earlier in the day, Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler got the side off to a decent start and added 31 runs for the opening wicket. Pace bowler Deepak Chahar provided breakthrough as he dismissed Rahane in the third over of the innings.
Buttler looked in great form and smashed 23 run off just 10 balls with the help of four fours and a six. Mitchell Santner dismissed Sanju Samson to see Rajasthan reduced to 53 for 3 after 5.2 overs. Steven Smith, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes also chipped in with crucial scores for the side. Jofra Archer and Shreyas Gopal added unbeaten 25 runs to help Rajasthan post 151 for 7 after 20 over.
For Chennai, Ravendra Jadeja was standout bowler on display with two wickets to his name. Deepak Chahar and Shardul Thakur also picked up crucial wickets for the side.
