Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal’s attacking fifty (77 off 43) followed by clinical bowling performance by Adam Zampa (3-22) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2-35) led Rajasthan Royals to a convincing 32-run win over Chennai Super Kings in Match No. 37 of IPL 2023 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, here on Thursday.

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With this win, Rajasthan went to the top of the table with five wins while CSK, who also have five victories, dropped down to the third spot after the loss.

Jaiswal’s fifty (77 off 43) propelled Rajasthan Royals to 202/5 in 20 overs. Apart from Jaiswal, the likes of Dhruv Jurel (34 off 15), Jos Buttler (27 off 21), and Devdutt Padikkal (24 off 12) contributed to the Royals’ big score on a batting-friendly pitch.

In reply, Shivam Dube (52 off 33) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (47 off 29) tried hard with the bat for CSK but it was not enough against a disciplined Royals bowling attack.

Chasing a huge total, CSK were off to a sedate start, scoring just 13 runs in the first three overs as both Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad were too cautious in their approach.

Gaikwad then decided to free his arms and got a few crucial four and sixes off Jason Holder and Ravichandran Ashwin in the next few overs but Conway had a torrid time out in the middle as he just couldn’t put the ball away to the boundary. The dots piled up and Conway (8 off 16) eventually ended up getting out by hitting one straight to mid-on in Adam Zampa’s over, leaving CSK on 42-1 at the end of the powerplay.

The wicket brought the in-form Ajinkya Rahane to the crease and along with Gaikwad, he had the responsibility to give some impetus to CSK’s innings. However, the Rajasthan bowlers, with their disciplined line and length, didn’t allow CSK batters to bat freely.

With the required run rate increasing, the pressure was mounting on the chasing team and Gaikwad tried to take on Zampa but he mistimed the ball horribly to get caught for 47. After Zampa, it was Ashwin’s turn to make an impact and he got rid of both Rahane (15) and Impact Substitute Ambati Rayudu (0) in the same over, putting CSK in deep trouble at 73/4 after 10.4 overs.

CSK were crumbling but Shivam Dube and Moeen Ali kept their hopes alive by hitting some crucial boundaries and sixes. Continuing his brilliant form, Dube was dealing in sixes and Moeen raced to 23 off just 12 balls before Zampa gave Royals a timely breakthrough by removing the England left-hander.

Chennai needed 78 from the final five and it was again Dube, who kept them in the hunt with his timely boundaries and sixes. On the other hand, Ravindra Jadeja struggled to get going initially but later he also found some boundaries but the target was becoming too big for CSK.

With 58 runs required off 18 balls, Sandeep Sharma executed his plans well and gave just 12 runs, bringing the equation to 46 off 12. And then Holder bowled an excellent over to concede just 9 runs. Eventually, CSK required 37 off the last over and they were able to get just four runs off Kuldip Yadav, getting restricted to 170/6 in 20 overs.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bat first as openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler gave them a flying start, scoring 60/0 in the Power-play. Jaiswal took on Akash Singh in the very first over, hitting the pacer for three boundaries. His batting partner Buttler targeted Tushar Deshpande and got two boundaries in an over.

Jaiswal was in no mood to stop as he hammered Akash for 18 runs in the pacer’s next over, courtesy of three fours and one six. With the pacers going for runs, CSK skipper Dhoni was forced to bring in the spinner and Maheesh Theekshana did well to concede just 3 runs.

The next two overs bowled by Deshpande and Theekshana brought 19 runs for the Royals, who were going strong. Even after the Power-play Jaiswal continued his blitz and stormed his way to a 26-ball half-century.

CSK badly needed a breakthrough and it was provided by Jadeja, who dismissed Buttler in the 8th over to give some respite to his team. While Jaiswal decided to continue with his aggressive approach, skipper Sanju Samson was happy playing second fiddle as Royals crossed the 100-run mark in the 10th over.

With Jaiswal and Samson at the crease, it seemed like Rajasthan were cruising towards a big total but Tushar Deshpande removed both set batters in the same over — the 14th of the innings — to bring CSK back into the game.

Samson first mistimed one to get caught at long-on and Jaiswal too didn’t quite middle the ball, with Ajinkya Rahane taking the catch at backward point, and leaving Rajasthan Royals at 132-3 after 13.5 overs.

With a healthy run rate on the board, the platform was set for the finishers. However, Shimron Hetmyer (8) got out to Theekshana, while trying to play a cut shot but was completely cramped up and bottom-edged the ball into the stumps.

From there on, the responsibility was on Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal to finish strongly for the Royals and they didn’t disappoint, scoring 56 runs in the last four overs. Jurel played some brilliant shots during his superb cameo while Padikkal chipped in though he was lucky with a couple of streaky boundaries — Royals posting 202/5 in 20 overs, which was the highest total at this ground in IPL history.

Brief scores:

Rajasthan Royals 202/5 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 77, Dhruv Jurel 34; Tushar Deshpande 2-42) beat Chennai Super Kings 170/6 in 20 overs (Shivam Dube 52, Ruturaj Gaikwad 47; Adam Zampa 3-22) by 32 runs.