IPL 2021: Match 47, RR vs CSK – Who Said What

Rajasthan Royals made short work of a 190-chase against Chennai Super Kings to record a crucial seven-wicket victory in Abu Dhabi with a whopping 15 balls to spare in what was one murderous six-hitting mayhem.

It seemed like another usual UAE leg contest until the 12th over after CSK were put in to bat first. Much like they have done throughout this season, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis provided a quick and solid start before Rahul Tewatia cunningly got the latter stumped for a 19-ball 25 to break the 47-run stand. Continuing his off form, Suresh Raina fell cheaply again, holing out Tewatia to midwicket.

At 83/2 in 12 overs, not even in the wildest dream could have any witnesser imagined that CSK would muster 190 by the end. In one of the classiest cases of accelerating after a start, Gaikwad took the attack to the Royals bowlers in what was an innings of two halves for him. He was 30 off 29 but finished slamming his maiden IPL ton off 60 balls, which had nine fours and five sixes, all proper cricketing strokes, nothing fancy and each one better than the other.

However, it was not as simple for Gaikwad to get to his century, with Ravindra Jadeja going berserk at the other end, with his 15-ball 32 that had four fours and a six. Eventually, it came down for him to need five to get to his landmark with two deliveries left, and he fittingly smashed a six to notch it up. In between CSK lost Moeen Ali (21 off 17) to Tewatia, who finished 3/39. The only other wicket-taker from Rajasthan was Chetan Sakariya (1/31), who removed Ambati Rayudu.

If anyone had ruled out an RR win at the halfway mark, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Evin Lewis had different plans. 8, 16, 17, 12, 22 is what overs No. 1 to 5 produced for Rajasthan. With the scoreboard reading a ridiculous 75/0 just five overs into the game, CSK got their first success when Shardul Thakur sent back Lewis for 27 off 12. From the other end, there was Jaiswal, who smothered a record 21-ball 50, with six fours and three sixes before KM Asif made him nick one behind to MS Dhoni.

Despite the quick departure of openers, the momentum they had set kept RR ahead of CSK for the entire part. However, it was important to not take the foot off the pedal, which was ensured by Shivan Dube, who was promoted ahead of David Miller and Glenn Phillips. Alongside skipper Sanju Samson, Dube added 89 for the third wicket off just 58 balls. Samson (28 off 24) looked happy to play the second fiddle for Dube, who smashed every CSK bowler with disdain to finish unbeaten on 64 off 42, an innings laced with four sixes and as many fours.

Thakur struck in the 16th over to sent back Samson, although Phillips joined Dube to gun down the remaining 20 runs to keep his team’s playoffs hopes alive. However, for his sensational knock, Gaikwad, despite being on the losing side, was adjudicated as the Player of the Match.

Losing skipper MS Dhoni:

A bad toss to lose. 190 was a good score, and the dew made it flat, and the ball started coming on well. You needed to bat well, and they did that, and put pressure on the bowlers. They just took the game away in the first 6 overs. 250 would’ve been closer to par (Warning: sarcasm), given the way they were going. It was stopping a bit when their wristspinners were bowling, and it started coming on better later, that’s when Ruturaj capitalised really well. Often when you lose the game it can get brushed under the carpet but it was a brilliant innings. I think the batsmen must assess quickly what is a good score, and you tend to go hard in the T20 format and then realise that it’s not a 160-180 wicket. They assessed the conditions quickly, and they didn’t let pressure get to the middle order. Deepak was really good with the new ball in earlier games, and we did miss him, because today the bowlers were under the pump. We could have used the dimensions better in terms of setting fields too. It’s important to forget but also learn from this game, because there’s no point learning if this happens in a playoff match.

Winning skipper Sanju Samson:

We are aware of the abilities of the people we have in our batting line-up. That’s why it’s disappointing when we lose. The wicket was behaving really well in the last 3-4 overs, so we knew it’d be much better in the second innings. We just wanted to back ourselves. I am happy I guessed it (pitch getting better in the second innings) right. They (openers) have been giving good starts, they almost finished off the game in the powerplay. They were going for the kill. Very happy for young Jaiswal, he’s played really well throughout the tournament, we are very sure he’ll make it big. (Secret behind Jaiswal’s power) He keeps on eating (laughs). We have been discussing about Dube from the last 2-3 games. We thought today might be his day. He has been working hard in the nets, very happy for him. Unbelievable batting by Gaikwad. We are really afraid of a batsman like him. Plays a lot of cricketing shots, there’s no risk the way he plays. We need to respect those type of batsmen. Very happy that he scored a really good hundred, respect him. We are not thinking too far ahead, one match at a time.

Player of the Match Ruturaj Gaikwad:

It was a slow wicket at the start and slightly damp, as the game progressed it got better. It was important for one of the batters to stay till the 14th or 15th over. I didn’t manage to do it in the last few games thankfully it happened today. I am working on timing the ball really well and trying to maintain my shape. It has worked for me for may years. Right from when I started playing cricket, I have relied on timing. Today also I relied on timing and thankfully it is coming off. My selection in the CSK team in 2019 where I didn’t get a chance to play, being in the dressing room I got to learn a lot. I got to know some routines, I got to know what hard work to go through, it was a very good learning curve for me. That one thing really helped me a lot. It was a dream, started really slow, didn’t dream of getting a hundred, aim was to get to a total of maybe 160-170. I like it (Orange Cap) but I would have loved to be on the winning side today.