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As RR scored a strong 175/8, Buttler was skillfully assisted by Devdutt Padikkal (38 off 26), R Ashwin (30 off 22), and Shimron Hetmyer (30 off 18).
The RR spinners then entered the argument, gagged the CSK hitters, and picked
off wickets regularly in the middle overs before Sandeep Sharma maintained a mixture
to hold off the attack of Dhoni and Jadeja for 21 runs off the last over.
Chennai Super Kings, who were trying to defend 176, were pushed back early by RR's methodical bowling. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was in good form, was lost early as he top-edged a ball. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sandeep Sharma made a successful catch. In the first three overs, RR only surrendered one-four.
Then, in the fourth over,
Rahane and Devon Conway got things rolling with individual fours off Jason
Holder. Sandeep Sharma was unable to hang on to a challenging opportunity at
backward square leg from a booming sweep shot that broke through his hands and
raced away to the boundary as Conway smashed a couple of fours off Zampa.
Rahane scored the
first six runs of the innings as RR reached 45/1 at the decision of the
Powerplay by knocking an R Ashwin delivery over wide long off.
Conway smashed a few more fours as the pair added 33 balls to the fifty-run stand. With four twos and a booming four through extra cover by Ajinkya Rahane, they managed to score 15 runs off the over thanks to some smart placement.
After that, Samson
reintroduced Ashwin, and it was a fruitful move since Ashwin successfully
trapped Rahane (31 off 19) LBW off a Carrom ball to halt the 68-run partnership
and help CSK reach 80/2 after 10 overs.
RR increased the
pressure, and Ashwin made some accurate bowling by sending back Shivam
Dube, who was caught leg before wicket. Attempting to hoick one, Chahal got a
bottom edge that he could have used to dismiss Moeen Ali, but keeper Samson was
unable to hold on to it.
However, Moeen couldn't stay for long as he was caught by Sandeep Sharma off the bowling of Zampa and holed out to a deep backward square leg. Then, in place of Magala, CSK announced Ambati Rayudu as their Impact Player.
But he, too, was unable to have an effect
as Chahal's bowling caused him to underestimate a shot to deep mid-wicket,
where Hetmyer took an excellent catch.
Conway then reached his fifty off 37 balls, holding down the fort at one end. However, he was unable to continue after he misplayed the next ball from Chahal to extra cover, where Yashasvi made another excellent catch.
The pressure grew as the wickets continued to tumble. RR bowled superbly during the 10–17 over phase, allowing just 42 runs and taking four wickets.
Chahal completed with an astonishing
spell of 4-0-25-2, while Ashwin finished with a really strong spell of
4-0-25-0. Dhoni released the pressure regulator with a four and a six off Zampa
to reduce the comparison to 40 off 12 with 54 needed off 18 balls.
In the second last
over, Jadeja then struck two sixes and a four off Holder to remove 19 from the
over and reduce the score to 21 needed off six balls.
The final over would be bowled by Sandeep. He initiated by pitching a few WIDES. The next ball, a full toss, was bowled and Dhoni swung it behind square leg for a four, carrying the calculation to 13 needed off 4.
He then produced a very nice yorker for a dot ball but missed in length on the following ball. The next ball, a low full toss, was sent over deep mid-wicket by Dhoni for a six, reducing the score to 7 off 3.
Then, as Sandeep swapped sides and bowled from around the wicket, he fluctuated at one again but the mistimed ball to deep mid-wicket for just a single. After that, Sandeep rushed in an excellent yorker outside off and passed just a single to Jadeja.
Sandeep produced another excellent yorker from outside the wicket with one down and five needed off the final ball, which Dhoni threw away for just a single to give RR a three-run victory.
Sandeep produced another excellent yorker from outside the wicket with one down and five needed off the final ball, which Dhoni threw away for just a single to give RR a three-run victory. At 32 off 17 balls, Dhoni was still unbeaten, and Jadeja was still in at 25 off 15 balls.
Earlier, MS Dhoni, the captain of the Chennai Super Kings, who was serving as the team's captain for the 200th time, won the toss and decided to bowl. They replaced Dwayne Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, and Deepak Chahar with Moeen Ali, Maheesh Theekshana, and Akash Singh in the starting XI.
They listed Rajvardhan
Hangargekar, Ambati Rayudu, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik
Rasheed, and Mitchell Santner as their substitutes.
Devdutt Padikkal and
Kuldeep Sen were substituted for Trent Boult (niggle) and Riyan Parag in the
starting XI by RR. They listed Joe Root, Donovan Ferreira, Adam Zampa, Riyan
Parag, and KM Asif as their replacements.
The extras also
helped because Jadeja bowled another wide in the following over to give up 11
runs after bowling five WIDES off his first delivery of his spell. The pair
kept the scoreboard moving. Moeen Ali was targeted by Buttler, who smashed him
for a series of sixes over deep mid-wicket.
After recapture
control, CSK only let up 24 runs from the following five overs (9-13) while
also taking two wickets. Jadeja settled with an outstanding spell of 4-0-21-2.
Buttler then reached
his fifty from 33 balls but was bowled out by an off-spinner for 52 (36), when
he attempted to heave one but absolutely missed it. CSK bowled two precise
overs, allowing just 9 runs while getting Buttler's important wicket.
The late flow was
then given by Hetmyer, who scored a quickfire 30* (18) that included two sixes
and a few fours, but Deshpande bowled a terrific final over, giving up just 8
runs and getting rid of Jason Holder as RR made 175/8 from 20 overs.
Following Holder's departure and in place of Jos Buttler, RR named Adam Zampa as their Impact Player and sent him out to bat with the final ball of the innings.