In the 17th game of IPL 2018, Rajasthan Royals (RR) suffered a huge 64-run defeat against the hosts Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium (Pune) on Friday night.
After winning the toss, Rajasthan captain Ajinkya Rahane decided to field first. CSK put a big total of 204/5 in 20 overs which was failed to chase by the visiting side as they were bundled out for just 140 runs in 18.3 overs.
Now, we will briefly talk about some important reasons for RR’s defeat in this match.
Missing opportunities
Rajasthan Royals had some good opportunities to change the momentum of the game but failed to use those.
The biggest one was in the first over of the match when CSK opener Shane Watson provided a chance for the visiting side. Batting on 8 runs, Watson had a thick outside edge which travelled to the first slip Rahul Tripathi, but he failed to grab that. It was a vital mistake for the team as Rajasthan was going away from the game with time progresses.
Later, they had few more chances on the field as catches and run-outs but they failed to count for them. Though Krishnappa Gowtham had two excellent catches during CSK dismissals, those couldn’t pay off the other mistakes which were done by his teammates.
Shane Watson’s 106
After surviving from an early chance, CSK opener Shane Watson single-handedly made the huge differences between the two teams. Watson scored 106 runs off 57 deliveries with 9 fours and 6 sixes and stayed on the pitch till 19.5 overs.
The 36-year-old right-handed batsman made some good top-order partnerships and provided an important contribution in the middle stage when CSK faced a shaky little collapse. The centurion Watson completed his responsibility after crossing the team’s total to 20-run mark.
No proper reply from the batsmen
When it was the target of 205 runs, there were needed some good partnerships and at least few responsible knocks from the batsmen. But Rajasthan batsmen even failed to show the fight against the CSK bowlers.
The top-orders fell very early and most of the other batsmen followed them in the same way. Only the English duo no.4 batsman Ben Stokes and no.5 batsman Jos Buttler crossed the 20-run mark as they provided the highest partnership in that innings which was for 45 runs for the fourth wicket.
Ben Stokes was dismissed for 45 runs while Buttler managed to score 22 runs in that innings.
It was the very weak batting performances from Rajasthan Royals that couldn’t even provide a respectable total as well as a respectable fight in the game.
