CSK conquer Royals to claim IPL top spot

May 10: Cheni Super Kings (CSK) climbed to the top of the Indian

Premier League (IPL) points table with a 12–run victory over Rajasthan

Royals in a league match at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Sunday.

Chasing 158, Royals were restricted to 145 for nine in 20 overs.

CSK improved to 16 points from 12 matches, keeping Royals in the third spot with 14 points after 13 games.

Royals began their run–making process sedately with openers Ajinkya Rahane (23) and Shane Watson (28).

They mixed caution with aggression to build a strong platform for

their team. Just as it seemed they have settled into a nice rhythm

Rahane departed in the sixth over dismissed by Mohit Sharma. No.3 batter

Steve Smith (4) also didn’t last long as Royals slumped to 48 for two

in the eighth over. But they received a bigger jolt when Watson had to

depart, caught brilliantly by an acrobatic Dwayne Bravo at long on off

the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja in the 10th over.

Rajasthan’s situation worsened 11 balls later. Jadeja struck again to dismiss Karun ir (10) to reduce Royals to 75 for four.

The asking rate steadily went up and Royals needed 73 runs off the

last seven overs. But they just couldn’t muster the big hits needed to

chase down the total.

Earlier, Brendon McCullum’s 81 off 61 balls lifted Cheni Super Kings (CSK) to a fighting total of 157/5.

McCullum hit four sixes and seven fours and joined hands with Faf du

Plessis (29) for a 101–run stand in 76 balls for the third wicket that

was the driving force behind Cheni’s competitive score.

After electing to bat first, Cheni got off to a poor start, losing

aggressive opening batsman Dwayne Smith (6) and ever–reliable Suresh

Rai (3) inside four overs.

While left–arm spinner Ankit Sharma removed West Indian Smith, caught

by James Faulkner, left–hander Rai too offered a catch to Faulkner

off pacer Chris Morris to leave the hosts in spot of bother at 15/2.

Charismatic right–hander McCullum first tried to settle down, waiting

for weak deliveries to pounce upon, like he did against off–spinner

Pravin Tambe, who got hit for two sixes in the sixth over.

However, du Plessis ran himself out and afterwards McCullum also

perished, offering a catch to Ankit for Morris’ second wicket. Morr is

bagged his third after dismissing Pawan Negi for two.

Afterwards, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (not out 13) and Dwayne

Bravo (not out 15) raised 28 runs in the fil 15 deliveries of the

innings to take Cheni to the decent total.

For Rajasthan, South African Morris was the best bowler, picking three wickets for just 19 runs in four overs. IANS

SCOREBOARD

Cheni Super Kings:

Dwayne Smith c Faulkne b Ankit Sharma 6, Brendon McCullum c Ankit Sharma b Morris 81, Suresh Rai c Faukner b Morris 3, Faf du Plessis run out 29, Pawan Negi c Smith b Morris 2, Mahendra Singh Dhoni not out 13, Dwayne Bravo not out 15

Extras (lb 1, w 7) 8; Total (for five wickets in 20 overs) 157

Fall of wickets: 1–12, 2–15, 3–116, 4–129 , 5–129

Bowling: Chris Morris 4–0–19–3, Shane Watson 2–0–19–0, Ankit Sharma 4–0–31–1

Pravin Tambe 3–0–24–0, James Faulkne 4–0–40–0, Rajat Bhatia 3–0–23–0

Rajasthan Royals:

Ajinkya Rahane c Bravo b Sharma 23, Shane Watson c DJ Bravo b R Jadeja 28, Steve Smith b Jadeja 4, Karun ir c Ashwin b R Jadeja 10, Deepak Hooda c Rai b R Jadeja 15, Sanju Samson c Dwayne Smith b D Bravo 26, James Faulkner c DJ Bravo b Mohit Sharma 16, Chris Morris not out 16, Rajat Bhatia c du Plessis b Mohit Sharma 0, Ankit Sharma c Nehra b Bravo 0, Pravin Tambe not out 1

Extras (lb 2, w 2, nb 2) 6; Total (9 wickets for 20 overs) 145

Fall of wickets: 1–37, 2–48, 3–63, 4–75, 5–90 , 6–123, 7–130, 8–130, 9–143

Bowling: Asish Nehra 4–0–29–0, Mohit Sharma 4–0–25–3, Pawan Negi 4–0–35–0, Ravindra Jadeja 4–0–11–4, Dwayne Bravo 4–0–43–2