12-May-2024 06:03 PM
2730
Chennai, May 12 (Reporter) In a must win game, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) medium pacers Simarjeet Singh and Tushar Deshpande shared five wickets between them to restrict Rajasthan Royals to
141 for five in 20 overs in an IPL match at the M.A.Chidambaram Stadium here on a hot Sunday.
Except an unbeaten 47 by middle order batsman Riyan Parag (35 balls, 3x6, 1x4), who was twice
dropped on 15 and 34, there were no major contributions as the batsmen got starts, but failed to
build on the momentum.
CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad marshalled his resources well, shuffling the bowlers and
used the medium pacers in key moments to restrict RR to a moderate total on a wicket
that had both carry and bounce for the pacers.
Simarjeet struck in each of his first three overs, including two in the first spell of two overs,
and Tushar struck in the first two balls of the last over to restrict their rivals.
Simarjeet finished with 3 for 26 in four overs and Tushar ended up at 2 for 30.
Amid a plethora of boundaries in othr matches, the RR innings contained just seven fours
and six sixers. The interesting fact is that CSK bowled 45 dot balls that kept the run flow under
check.
Batting first, openers Yahasvi Jaiswal (24, 21 balls, 3x4, 1x6) and Jos Butler (21, 25 balls, 2x4)
started rather slowly adding 43 for the first wicket in 6.2 overs, before Simarjeet struck getting
both of them in successive overs.
Sanju Samson, known for his power hitting, scored 15 in 19 balls and struggled to get into his groove as surprisingly his innings had no boundaries.
Riyan Prag and Dhruv Jurel (28, 18 balls, 1x4, 2x6) added 40 in 29 balls for the
fourth wicket before the double strike by Tushar stemmed the run flow.
Both the spinners, office Maheesh Theekshana, who opened the bowling, and left armer Ravindra Jadeja chipped in with a controlled line conceding just 52 runs in eight overs...////...