Abu Dhabi
Rajasthan Royals defeated Chennai Suprr Kings by seven wickets and 15 deliveries to spare, in the Dream XI, Indian Premeir League, here on Monday.
Chasing a terget of 126 to win Royals were home in the 18th over (17.3).
They are up to fifth place now, and the first team to pull away from the six-point club in the bottom half of the table as they vault from last place up to fifth. For CSK, this could be the beginning of the end. They can only get to a maximum of 14 points from here, and it would take some monumental errors from the likes of KKR and MI and RCB for 14 points to be enough for a playoff place.
"There was a bit for the fast bowlers and the reason I brought Jadeja was to see how much it was stopping and it didn't as much as the first innings. So I went with the fast bowlers. I don't think the spinners got as much bite," said CSK skipper Dhoni after the game.
He went on to add, "It's not always supposed to go your way. We have to see if the process was wrong. Result is a by-product of the process, but the fact still remains that if you're focused on the process then the undue pressure of result doesn't enter the dressing room," he added.
"It's nice with the wicket as it is, with the grass. It's a bit difficult, especially in the bubble, because sometimes you struggle for motivation, " said Jofra:Archer.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals produced a fine bowling effort to restrict three-time champions Chennai Super Kings to a modest 125 for five.
Opting to bat, CSK never got going and lacked the fire power to put up a decent score after being reduced to 56 for four in 10 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja top-scored for CSK with a 30-ball unbeaten 35 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, playing in his 200th IPL game, made a run-a-ball 28 while adding 51 runs for the fifth wicket.
Jofra Archer (1/20) was terrific with the new ball but he would be disappointed with his outing on the field.
Besides Archer, the spin duo of Shreyas Gopal (1/14) and Rahul Tewatia (1/18) were economical in the middle overs, while young Kartik Tyagi (1/35) too was impressive.
Dhoni's decision to bat first backfired as RR picked up wickets at regular intervals to make life difficult for CSK.
CSK lost the in-form Faf du Plessis (10) in the third over, caught by Jos Buttler off Archer and then an over later, Shane Watson was sent back by Kartik.
Opening the batting again, Sam Curran made 22 off 25 balls before being dismissed by Gopal.
After that, a lot depended on Ambati Rayudu but he too disappointed, perishing in the next over off Tewatia's bowling as CSK slumped to 56 for four.
Dhoni and Jadeja tried their best to resurrect the innings and then up the ante, but it proved to be too little too late.
Dhoni was run out in search of a double in the 18th over.
Kedar Jadhav continued to struggle with the bat as RR bowlers didn't give the CSK batsmen any leeway.
