Rajasthan Royals clinched their first points in the Indian Premier League 2025 after a clinical win against Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, March 30. Playing at the Barsapara Stadium, Rajasthan beat Chennai by 6 runs owing to some sensational spells from Wanindu Hasaranga and Jofra Archer.
Chasing 183 runs in Guwahati, even MS Dhoni’s promotion to No. 7 couldn’t bail CSK out of trouble as the team finished with 176 runs for the loss of 6 wickets. Dhoni gave Chennai a glimmer of hope in the final overs of the match, bringing the equation down to 20 off the final 6 balls while batting alongside Ravindra Jadeja. However, all those hopes faded away as the CSK talisman hit the ball straight to Shimron Hetmyer to the left of deep mid-wicket, where he completed a sensational catch under pressure.
Dhoni scored 16 off 11, hitting one six and a four, in what turned out to be a thrilling final few overs today.
Before Dhoni and Jadeja’s late drive, it was Ruturaj Gaikwad who held Chennai’s innings till the 16th over of the game, scoring 63 runs off 44 balls. Ruturaj was trapped at long-on by Hasaranga, who picked up one wicket in every single over that he bowled. Gaikwad was the fifth CSK wicket to fall on the night, which nearly sealed the fate of CSK.
Hasaranga targeted the stumps and varied his pace throughout his overs as CSK simply failed to select the correct balls to hit him out of the park. The Sri Lankan spinner spoke to the broadcaster after the match and revealed that he started with straighter lines and gradually went wider as batsmen tried to come at him in the latter stages of the game.
Credit needs to be given to Jofra Archer for bouncing back from an absolute hammering in the first two games of this season. Archer has had a mixed relationship with the Indian Premier League in recent times due to his woeful injury history.
Archer started the RR innings raining fire on Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Rahul Tripathi, and forced them to dance to his tunes. Archer’s first over was a maiden wicket, the first in this edition of the IPL. The English pacer got the wicket of Rachin through sheer pace, beating him on the outside edge.
Archer and Tushar Deshpande bowled the first four overs in tandem, going full tilt against the CSK batters, making them uncomfortable at the crease. In fact, Chennai captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was hit on his forearm, which forced the game into a break as he was being checked by the physio for damage from the impact.
