After a long time, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) played like champions as MS Dhoni is known for his best captaincy whenever bowl spins. In their 45-run win over the Rajasthan Royals (RR), CSK rode on a fine middle-overs spin-bowling performance by Moeen Ali (3/7) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/28) to comfortably defend 188. Ali and Jadeja spun a web around the RR batsmen on a surprisingly dry day at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
RR suffered a huge collapse as they lost 5 wickets, including that of Jos Buttler (49), David Miller (2), and Chris Morris (0), for just 8 runs in the middle-overs, To make things worse for the Royals, MS Dhoni kept on remindings the opponents that spinners were getting some purchase after the lack of dew on Monday evening. The pitch and the outfield during RR’s chase were surprising as Moen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja relished bowling in Mumbai as they got a lot of purchase from the pitch.
WATCH – Ravindra Jadeja Gave A Hilarious Reaction After Taking Unadkat’s Catch
Rajasthan Royals were restricted to 143 for 9 in 20 overs as CSK gained a lot of confidence from their back-to-back wins away from home after witnessing a forgettable outing in the UAE last year. CSK lost their season opener to Delhi Capitals (DC) but they have bounced back with wins over Punjab Kings (PBKS) and RR. RR began their chase well, by counter-attacking Deepak Chahar but Sam Curran got the big wicket of Sanju Samson (1) in the powerplay after striking early to remove Manan Vohra.
Buttler kept attacking from one end, but he was undone by a Jadeja delivery that pitched in middle and leg and crashed into the off stump. Ali and Jadeja then ran through the middle-overs scalping 5 wickets in a 4-over period that sealed the deal for Chennai. Rajasthan had Rahul Tewatia (20) and Jaydev Unadkat (24) in the middle, who made sure their NRR didn’t take a big beating.
Earlier in the game, RR skipper, Sanju Samson won the toss and invited CSK to bat first. Faf du Plessis got off to a quick start even as Ruturaj Gaekwad struggled at the other end. Du Plessis was on fire for CSK and he was looking dangerous when he was dismissed by Chris Morris for a 17-ball 33. Moeen Ali scored 26 off 20 but Suresh Raina managed only 18 off 15 balls.
WATCH – MS Dhoni’s Dive of Destiny to save his wicket
Ambati Rayudu played a quickfire knock of 27 off 17 at No.5. However, Ravindra Jadeja (8 off 7) and MS Dhoni (18 off 17) failed to increase the momentum for CSK which was required. It was thanks to a Dwayne Bravo cameo (20 not out off 8 balls) that helped CSK to reach 188 for 9. Curran chipped in with a 6-ball 13 after coming into bat at No. 8. The Chennai-based franchise did not make the most of their power-packed batting unit but the two spinners weaved magic on a surprising Wankhede pitch to deliver the big win.
Here is how Twitterati reacted to CSK’s win:
A win with a lot of WOWs 🙌#WhistlePodu #CSKvRR #Yellove 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/1ONl7CBsjy
— Chennai Super Kings – Mask P😷du Whistle P🥳du! (@ChennaiIPL) April 19, 2021
Well done #csk on winning the game specially defending the total at wankhede. Change of ball was the turning point ?
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) April 19, 2021
Idhu namma chennai chennai super kings…!!! #Csk wooooohooooo @ChennaiIPL 🦁
— 𝑽𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒙𝒎𝒊 𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒌𝒖𝒎𝒂𝒓 (@varusarath5) April 19, 2021
CSK's highest score in match was 33 while RR's 49. Yet, Dhoni's team won by a massive margin. They playing like old CSK, as a unit.#CSKvRR #RRvCSK
— R P Singh रुद्र प्रताप सिंह (@rpsingh) April 19, 2021
The ball just loves Jadeja so much today. Gifts him two wickets and also goes to him wherever he is fielding. So much love. #CSKvRR
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) April 19, 2021
And #MSD’s advice to #Jadeja changes the momentum in favour of #csk “bowlers biggest cushion #Dhoni” #RRvCSK #VIVOIPL
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) April 19, 2021
He may not have the power like he used to with the Bat MSD,but he is still the best T20 tactician we have ever seen … #IPL @ChennaiIPL 👍
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) April 19, 2021
When butler hit jadeja for a six and then ball was replaced , you could hear dhoni on the stump mic saying that the ball will turn because it’s dry … that’s exactly what happened !! #ipl2021 #csk
— Rohan Gavaskar (@rohangava9) April 19, 2021
Moeen Ali's 3/7 – The best bowling by an off-spinner for the Chennai Super Kings in IPL.
Only once a team's spinners took more wickets in an IPL match at Wankhede (6 wickets by KKR vs MI in 2012) than the CSK spinners today (Moeen 3 & Jadeja 2). #CSKvRR #IPL2021
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) April 19, 2021
CSK having the best Net Run Rate in IPL 2021. They've moved to No.2 position on the Points Table.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) April 19, 2021
