Dhoni-led CSK win; Rajasthan disappointed

RR made a couple of Cha(va)nges to their playing eleven – Owais Shah and Ankeet made way for Brad Hodge and Pankaj Singh.

CSK made three changes to their playing (Micha)eleven – Faf du Plessis, Subramaniam Badrinath and Shadab Jakati made way for Hussey, Srikkanth Anirudha and Yo Mahesh.

On winning the toss, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, CSK’s skipper, chose to field.

The first Powerplay of RR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 28, and lost a couple of wickets.

A ball into the match, there was an interruption due to rain. Neither had RR got off the mark, nor had they lost a wicket. In fact, the openers – Rahul Dravid, RR’s skipper, and Ajinkya Rahane – had not opened their accounts yet.

Dravid, who faced nine balls, eventually scored just four. His runs came by way of a boundary. Eleven balls into the match, he was caught by Hussey. Ben Hilfenhaus broke the six-run stand.

Thirteen balls (2.1 overs) into the match, there was another interruption due to rain. RR had scored 14, and lost a wicket at that point. While Rahane was batting on four, Shane Watson hadn’t opened his account.

Watson, whose 11-ball innings included a boundary, eventually scored five. Twenty-three balls after Dravid’s dismissal, he was caught by Ravichandran Ashwin. Hilfenhaus broke the 22-run stand.

Rahane, whose 22-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, eventually scored 17. Eighteen balls later, he was caught by Ashwin. Yo Mahesh broke the 12-run stand.

Fifty-three balls (8.5 overs) into the match, there was another interruption due to rain. RR had scored 42, and lost three wickets at that point. While Stuart Binny had scored half-a-dozen, Hodge had scored a run.

RR scored 50 off 9.3 overs (57 balls). CSK had conceded 11 extras at that point.

Binny, whose 18-ball innings included three boundaries and a six, eventually scored 27. Ten balls after Rahane’s dismissal, he was caught by Suresh Raina. Yo Mahesh broke the 25-run stand.

Johan Botha, who faced 20 balls, scored a dozen. Forty-one balls later, Ravindra Jadeja broke the 32-run stand.

RR scored 100 off 17.4 overs (106 balls). CSK had conceded a dozen extras at that point. In fact, that was the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Hodge, whose 28-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six, eventually scored 33. Eight balls after Botha’s dismissal, he was trapped leg before wicket by Ashwin, who broke the 18-run stand.

Ashok Menaria, whose five-ball innings included a boundary, scored half-a-dozen. He was unbeaten.

Although he was unbea‘ten’, Dishant Yagnik, whose innings included a couple of boundaries, had no reason to be in seventh heaven.

RR scored 126 for the loss of half-a-dozen wickets off 20 overs.

Dwayne Bravo and Albie Morkel bowled three wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 38, the latter conceded 19.

Ashwin, who bowled a couple of overs, conceded 13. He picked up a wicket, as did Jadeja, who bowled four overs, conceding 21.

Yo Mahesh and Hilfenhaus bowled four overs each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 21, the latter, whose spell included a maiden, conceded eight.

The first Powerplay of CSK’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 36, and lost a couple of wickets.

Murali Vijay, who faced five balls, failed to get off the mark. An over into the chase, Watson broke the one-run stand.

Raina, whose 17-ball innings included five boundaries, scored 23. Five overs later, he was caught by Rahane. Pankaj broke the 35-run stand.

CSK scored 50 off 9.1 overs (55 balls). RR had conceded five extras at that point.

Bravo, who faced 15 balls, scored 10. Thirty-two balls after Raina’s dismissal, he was caught by Binny. Siddharth Trivedi broke the 21-run stand.

The fourth-wicket pair put on three. Hussey, whose 32-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 19. Five balls later, Shaun Tait ran him out.

Dhoni, whose 16-ball innings included a boundary, scored 10. Seventeen balls later, he was caught by Rahane. Trivedi broke the 20-run stand.

Jadeja, whose 13-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 16. A couple of balls later, he was caught by Botha. Pankaj broke the four-run stand.

CSK scored 100 off 17.1 overs (103 balls). The number of extras they had conceded at that point gave RR no reason to be in seventh heaven.

Both Morkel and Anirudha scored 18 off six balls apiece. Each of their innings included a couple of boundaries and a six.

RR eventually conceded 13 extras. CSK, who scored 127 for the loss of half-a-dozen wickets off 18.1 overs, won by four wickets with 11 balls to spare.

Tait, who bowled 3.1 overs, conceded 20. He was wicketless, as was Botha, who bowled four overs, conceding 23.

Watson, who bowled three overs, conceded 32. He picked up a wicket.

Pankaj and Trivedi bowled four overs each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 34, the latter conceded 18.

As a result of this match, PWI were eliminated.