Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live blog of this evening's Indian Premier League 2019 clash between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium.
20 You can listen to the Lions roar! CSK has done it again: a well-deserved eight-run victory for the side. With the win, CSK moves to the top of the table.
19.5 Another wicket! Tahir takes a simple catch at third man as Shreyas Gopal tries to go big. Mistimes and miscues it completely, takes a big outside edge. Had no idea where the ball was headed to.
19.4 Jofra mistimes, one run. What a brilliant over this is turning out to be.
19.3 Leg bye and one. The ball rolls down to thrid man.
19.2 Dot ball.
19.1 WICKET! Oh what have you done Stokes? Raina takes another wonderful catch and Stokes' face says it all. He tries to go over the covers but finds Raina instead.
So Bravo has been given the responsibility.
Are we in for a late twist? 12 runs required off 6 balls, and it is easily gettable. Who will bowl the last over?
Bravo gifts an expensive over to the Royals. 19 off that over. 25 runs required of 12 balls now. RR 151/6 after 18 overs.
Another fielding spectacle pulled off by Suresh Raina sees Krishnappa Gowtham off. Gowtham who was looking to slice it over cover finds Raina within the 30-yard circle. RR 120/6 after 16.1 overs.
What a superb comeback from Tahir after being hit for a six by Krishnappa Gowtham off the very first ball. Gives just three runs after that. He has the Purple Cap too now after removing Smith in his last over. RR 120/5 after 16 overs.
14 runs coming from the Jadeja over. Rajasthan needs one or two more overs like this to take some pressure off themselves. RR 111/5 after 15 overs.
Our reporter Hari Kishore M who is at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium says, "18,700 people at the match today."
WICKET! And there, with that wicket Rajasthan's hopes to recover from this situation go down to. Steve Smith tries to go for the big shot but doesn't get much wood on to that shot. The ball goes straight to the man at the long-off fence. FOW: 94/5, 13.2 overs
There is a change of ball again. Twice in the same innings. That speaks volumes about how heavy the dew is.
As the dew gets heavier, it seemed that Imran Tahir, a wrist spinner, would find things difficult, but what do we have here? There is a hint of turn as Smith misreads the first delivery. The second one, a googly, too goes nowhere. And there, we have it. This seemed to be more or less coming. A slower one this time, has been ballooned to the bowler by Tripathi. Easy one that! FOW: 75/4 after 10 overs.
And with a single off the first ball of the ninth over, Rahul Tripathi and Steve Smith manage to stitch together a 50-run partnership.
Jadeja has been introduced and we have both mid-off and mid-on inside to stop the singles. Nine runs come from that over after the second ball goes for a boundary towards deep extra cover. RR 63/3 after eight overs.
Things are not working for Mitchell Santner at all. After two boundaries he has gifted the home side a no ball as well. Tripathi smokes the free hit for a six, straight and massive down the ground. Two singles and a dot to end the powerplay. RR 45/3 after six overs.
Two boundaries from Steven Smith eases the pressure on the Royals at Chepauk, but he has a much greater responsibility tonight. RR 24/3, after four overs.
And another one bites the dust! This time it is Jos Buttler who has to go. He slices it over mid-off and Bravo runs to his left to take a comfortable catch in the end. FOW: 14/3 after 3.1 overs.
Chahar's second over and Samson welcomes him with a boundary, timing it perfectly towards point. However, things change fast as Samson departs in the last ball of the same over. He miscues it to Raina who manages to take another beauty - sort of an action replay of the Jadeja catch. RR 14/2 after three overs.
Ohh what a beauty! Second ball into the second innings and we have a wicket already! And it is the Rajasthan Royals captain who has got to walk. Deepak Chahar's outswinger sees Rahane go for the drive and what we see a fantastic catch taken by Ravindra Jadeja at backward point. RR 0/1, after 0.2 overs.
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19.6 And another maximum now over long on, to make it sixty runs from the last three overs. Four sixes and 28 runs from that over. CSK 175/5 after 20 overs.
19.5 And one towards long off now. Dhoni's turning back the clock. You can hear the crowd from two kilometres away!
19.4 And Mahendra Singh Dhoni dispatches another flat six towards squares leg. Muscled!
19.2 Sir Jadeja smokes one down the ground over the head of the umpire for a flat six. Maybe now I know what Ravi Shastri meant by a tracer bullet!
And Bravo has to walk! Tries to go for a pull shot but ends up slicing it high. Dhawal Kulkarni makes no mistake at long on. FOW: 144/5 after 18.3 overs.
And with that boundary towards backward point Dhoni comes up with his half-century off 39 balls.
When a cheeky single from Dhoni can have the Chepauk crowd up on its feet, imagine what a Free Hit can do! And Dhoni gifts them the perfect maximum over extra cover. CSK 139/4 after 18 overs.
Jofra Archer is clearly frustrated. Bowls one full and wide of the off stump and Dhoni just opens the face of the bat to nudge it towards the ropes. Meanwhile, the dew is getting heavier as I type and it for sure is troubling the bowlers. CSK has something to worry about considering it would soon be bowling to the Royals. CSK 115/4 after 17 overs.
DJ Bravo slaps two boundaries off Stokes to give CSK some much needed momentum as it searches for a big flourish. CSK 99/4 after 15 overs
And Unadkat strikes with the slower one this time! Finds the woodwork behind Suresh Raina. Dhoni is not happy. FOW: 88/4, 13.4 overs.
The giant screen shows "Thala has taken off" as Dhoni hammers one straight down the ground over the bowler's head. There was no way the long on fielder, Stokes could reach there. Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane is vigorously rubbing the ball with his kerchief. The dew is starting to trouble?
Raina and Dhoni are taking turns to go for the boundaries now. Of the 12 runs, which comes from the 12th over, Dhoni and Raina have scored two boundaries each. There is a brief pause in the game as Rahane requests a change of ball, but the umpires deny. CSK 78/3 after 12 overs.
Suresh Raina or Chinna Thala as they call him in Chennai welcomes Krishnappa Gowtham with a boundary. A good over for CSK this one, 10 runs coming from it. CSK 55/3 after 10 overs.
This is not the kind of start CSK would have expected and the three early wickets didn't help the cause either. A bit of credit also needs to be given to the Royals' bowlers for keeping things tight. Onus on the experienced Dhoni and Raina to break the shackles. CSK 34/3 in 7 overs.
A really wide delivery and Jadhav (8) could have let it go but stretches to drive it and in the process gets an outside edge. CSK 27/3 in 5 overs.
Ben Stokes make a strong comeback after being hit for a six by dismissing Shane Watson for 13. But the next two deliveries, the new man walking out hits two boundaries. CSK 22/2 in 4 overs.
SIX. Short from Ben Stokes in second ball of his spell and Watson won't miss out on those.
OUT. Jofra Archer strikes early for Rajasthan by removing Ambati Rayudu (1) caught behind. The previous delivery he hit Rayudu on the forearm and the next trying to steer to third man plays to Buttler behind the stumps. CSK 1/1 in 2 overs.
Brilliant first over from Dhawal Kulkarni, gives only one run and cramping Shane Watson for space to play his shots. CSK 1/0 in 1 over.
A sea of yellow at Chepauk to cheer for the home side!
Rajasthan Royals XI: A Rahane, J Buttler, S Samson, S Smith, B Stokes, R Tripathi, K Gowtham, J Archer, J Unadkat, S Gopal, D Kulkarni
Chennai Super Kings XI: S Watson, A Rayudu, S Raina, K Jadhav, MS Dhoni, D Bravo, R Jadeja, D Chahar, S Thakur, M Santner, I Tahir
TOSS UPDATE: Rajasthan Royals wins toss, elects to field against Chennai Super Kings. CSK has one change - Mitchell Santner in for Harbhajan Singh. RR goes unchanged into the match.
Here is a preview of the high-voltage clash by our reporter Hari Kishore M:
Every time Chennai Super Kings gets to business, there is a sense of belief. A feeling of triumph created by an admirable leader and executed by his army of versatile players with intellectual lucidity.
Come Sunday, it will be no different.
CSK flaunts a handsome record at home and it will be expected to reign supreme against Rajasthan Royals at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
CSK and RR are at two ends of the spectrum. While the men in yellow ticked all its boxes winning both its games, the pink brigade ended on the negative side of the result twice.
The combination of Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson at the top of the order adds a lot of firepower in the batting department. A big score is due from the duo. In T20 cricket, it is just a matter of one game considering their explosive nature.
Suresh Raina has shown glimpses of his destructive abilities in the two games so far and he would be keen to make this outing count.
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The middle-order is tight with role-specific batters such as Kedar Jadhav, skipper M.S. Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo; and with Ravindra Jadeja in the ranks, CSK’s batting depth is no short of class.
The spin troika of Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir and Jadeja would be tough nuts to crack should they get assistance from the pitch and the Rajasthan batters would be wary of that threat.
The absence of Lungi Ngidi and David Willey has dented the pace battery a bit but Shardul Thakur, Mohit Sharma and Deepak Chahar can pull things back. If the fast bowlers fail, CSK can bank heavily on its spinners and more often than not, they have delivered the goods.
For Rajasthan, the tournament couldn’t have started on an unluckier note.
The Royals was in control while chasing 185 in its first match against Kings XI Punjab, but a middle and lower-order collapse led to its downfall.
The mediocre bowling made them suffer against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday.
Rajasthan hasn’t been able to grab the right moments. From leaking runs in the power play to looking clueless at death, the bowling unit comprising Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes have a serious job on hand.
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Shreyas Gopal and Krishnappa Gowtham would love to bowl on the Chepauk pitch, considering it helps the slower bowlers, but the spin duo have been erratic; causing concerns for Rahane.
The positive for Rahane is his form, along with star six-hitter Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson, the first batsman to smash a ton this season.
With the likes of Steve Smith and Stokes in the ranks, Rajasthan’s batting certainly looks menacing on paper but it remains to be seen if they can translate it into a performance.
Last time CSK played in Chennai, the pitch hogged more limelight than individual performances. This Sunday, the pitch should take the backstage.
HEAD-TO-HEAD TO WATCH OUT FOR
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