IPL 2018: Match 43, RR vs CSK - Who Said What

What a knock Jos Buttler played! He single-handedly has kept the Rajasthan Royals (RR) alive in the Indian Premier League (IPL) with a thrilling 4-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK). He started off his blitz in the powerplays and carved most of the runs before slowing down considerably in the middle overs. There were decent partnerships in between but no one stayed with him for a long period of time even as the experiment to send Ben Stokes to open the innings failed badly.

The skipper Ajinkya Rahane once again failed to stand up in the chase of 177 runs as Sanju Samson managed to stitch a small partnership with Buttler. However, he sacrificed his wicket sensationally in the mix-up between the two. Though Buttler kept on rotating the strike despite struggling to hit the ball. Meanwhile, when things got nervy in the end, the Royals found Stuart Binny and Krishnappa Gowtham who whacked a few much-needed sixes for their side and kept the team in the game.

Deservedly, it was Buttler who aced it in the last over for the hosts as the Men in Yellow made mistakes today under pressure. Earlier, CSK won the toss and opted to bat first with an anticipation that the wicket will get slow. Though their man-in-form Ambati Rayudu was dismissed early, it was Suresh Raina and Shane Watson who got going soon and added 86 runs for the second wicket. Raina got to a much-needed half-century and got back in the groove. However, the decent death overs bowling from Jofra Archer and Jaydev Unadkat restricted CSK.

The duo of MS Dhoni and Sam Billings tried their best to play big shots but they could only middle a few to finish on 176 runs after their 20 overs which were not enough in the end.

Man of the Match, Jos Buttler said:

Especially in the IPL, haven’t quite hit my straps. Tonight to get my side home, it’s always special to be not out in the end. As we’ve seen, the wicket plays really well in the first six.

Just trying to capitalize on that. Couldn’t quite get it away, had quite a bit of luck. Dwayne Bravo is one of the best in the world, but you always get the feeling that it’s about two hits.

Relatively big ground here too, so can take twos. Special to perform with my family here. We’ve kept ourselves in the competition.

Rajasthan Royals captain, Ajinkya Rahane said:

As I always mention, this format is always about giving your best everyday. Buttler’s consistent batting at the top is magnificent. KG’s knock was crucial. I was nervous, but sometimes you have to control your emotions as a captain and we all had a feeling that Buttler will take us through.

The way he handled the spinners was too good. He’s learning a lot, spending time with the experienced players and Warnie. Not easy bowling in the powerplay (talking about Gowtham).

It’s all about taking one game at a time right now. Now going to Mumbai, we all know how dangerous a side they are. Would like to thank Rajasthan Royals and Rajasthan government for supporting this initiative with cancer patients.

Chennai Super Kings captain, MS Dhoni said:

I think it is the bowling. We had to bowl one particular length and the bowlers were instructed on what they need to bowl and where they need to bowl. That back of the length was a difficult one to hit. We at least got hit 4-5 boundaries off full length.

What really happens is once you are told what to bowl, you need to be bowling to that area. They need to commit and execute. It is not the planning but the execution that goes haywire. That was a par score or a par plus score. I think the bowlers let us down to some extent.

Looking at the XI that we have on the field, we did well in the field. We can say we can get better, but with the players we have, this is the best we can get. It is important to start delivering when it comes to the planning part.

You just don’t want to qualify into the knockout stages, you have to win games. You also need to adjust to what length to bowl and how to bowl.