After the highs of the weekend doubleheaders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, the fifth week started on a low note. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) played a completely one-sided affair out a one-sided encounter in Abu Dhabi with RR winning it comprehensively owing to a brilliant half-century from Jos Buttler. However, it was their bowling that did the job to restrict the opposition.
Earlier, MS Dhoni won’t the toss and decided to bat first, but after the toss, nothing went their way atter the toss as none of their batsmen could back their skipper’s decision to bat. Sam Curran came out to open the innings with Faf du Plessis but the latter got out early. Shane Watson was soon dismissed and the youngster failed to soak-in the pressure of dot balls as he perished after scoring 22 off 25 balls. Ambati Rayudu too couldn’t do much as he got out to Rahul Tewatia.
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At 56/4 after 10 overs, MS Dhoni joined hands with Ravindra Jadeja to rebuilding the innings. The duo rotated the strike even as the spinners, Tewatia and Shreya Gopal, who scalped a wicket each. Meanwhile, Jadeja and Dhoni trudged along to complete a 50-run stand for the fifth wicket but only managed to help CSK to reach a total of just 125 runs on the board after 20 overs.
The 126-run chase wasn’t big enough to scare the Royals batsmen, still, Ben Stokes was dismissed early by Deepak Chahar and soon Robin Uthappa and Sanju Samson left RR reeling at 28/3 in the fifth over. However, Steve Smith and Jos Buttler had other plans
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Smith struggled early in his innings, but with no pressure of required run-rate, but then along with Buttler, who smashed a fiery fifty, added 98 runs for the 4th wicket. RR ended the chase in the 18th over itself improving their net run-rate.On the other hand, CSK have nothing much left in the tournament now as they are almost knocked out.
Hits
Jos Buttler
After failing on a consistent basis in the first few matches of the IPL 2020, the wicket-keeper RR batsman, Jos Buttler was desperate to score and he roared when it mattered the most. He amassed as many as 70* runs in just 48 deliveries with the help of seven 4s and a couple of 6s.
Flops
MS Dhoni
It’s been the second consecutive game when MS Dhoni has failed to deliver when the team needed him. Apart from his fifty against RCB, he has been a disappointment for CSK.
Shardul Thakur
After bowling match-winning spells against KXIP and SRH, Shardul Thakur has failed to take wickets for CSK. In order to CSK have a chance to reach the playoffs, Natarajan needs to be more consistent, especially after the injury of DJ Bravo.
