Rajasthan Royals kept their play-off dreams alive with a morale-boosting seven-wicket victory in the IPL in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, with Yashasvi Jaiswal timing it well and Shivam Dube deflating Chennai Super Kings with physical force. As Royals shattered a winning goal of 190 in only 17.3 overs, Jasiwal smashed 50 off 21 balls, including some exquisite sixes off top Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood, while Dube sent the likes of Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja into orbit en route to his undefeated 64 off 42 balls. With two games remaining, the Royals have a total of ten points.
At 14 points, fourth place is a certain conclusion, and net run rate will be critical. CSK will be unaffected by the loss because they are now on 18 points and have already advanced to the final four stage.
When CSK declared at 189 for 4 thanks to Ruturaj Gaikwad’s magnificent 60-ball-101 not out, no one expected the Royals’ Indian players to respond in kind and go any farther.
Evin Lewis (27 off 12 balls) provided excellent support to Jaiswal in their opening stand of 77 in 5.2 overs, which established the tone for the game.
As the match slipped out of CSK’s hands in the Powerplay, Hazlewood wouldn’t have expected to be smacked for three sixes in his opening session.
Jaiswal, whose game has improved by a few notches from last season, was seen flicking Hazlewood over deep mid-wicket while also hitting a straight six.
When the ball was thrown in his arc, Dube, who doesn’t have great footwork, smashed some monster sixes off Jadeja, Moeen Ali, and Sam Curran. He smashed four fours and four sixes in total.
During their 89-run third-wicket stand in 9.3 overs, even the elegant Sanju Samson (28 off 24 balls) paled in compared to Dube’s dominance.
However, Gaikwad appeared to command the stage when he struck a six off Mustafizur Rahaman’s final ball to record a coveted maiden IPL tonne.
In his 60-ball 101 not out, Gaikwad smashed nine fours and five sixes, making a mockery of the Royals’ bowling attack in their 12th round match.
Some of his off-side shots would be remembered for a long time to come. CSK gained 55 runs in 3.4 overs thanks to Ravindra Jadeja’s (32 not out off 15 balls) scything through the Royals’ attack at the back end.
In fact, Jadeja faced four deliveries in the penultimate over, leaving Gaikwad with two, and he dragged Mustafizur Rahman off the final delivery to complete the coveted milestone.
The Royals’ most successful bowler was leg-spinner Rahul Tewatia (3/39 in 4 overs), but Gaikwad spoiled his delight by hitting two back-to-back sixes, one over long-off and the other into the sightscreen.
Left-arm seamers Akash Singh and Mustafizur hit sixes over mid-wicket that landed at least 20 yards behind the ropes into the grass banks.
The Punekar is not very muscular, but his “firm core” and sturdy base allow him to stay in shape while going for the big shots, as the Royals discovered on the day.
He came down the track and lofted seamer Chetan Sakariya for an inside-out one-bounce boundary in such a way that it appeared he was tackling a spinner with plenty of time on his hands.
As his driving was beautiful, there were a lot of limits in the arc between cover and mid-off. Since the start of the IPL, Gaikwad has scored 88, 38, 30, 45, and now 101 not out.
So far, he hasn’t had a single failure, and his partnerships with Faf du Plessis (25) have been the bedrock of CSK’s successful batting performance.
Because of du Plessis and Gaikwad’s explosive starts, none of their retiring players, including Suresh Raina, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and Ambati Rayudu, all IPL giants in their own right, have made much of an impact with the bat.
They put up 47 for the first wicket on Saturday, after scoring 71 against RCB, 74 against KKR, and 75 against SunRisers Hyderabad.
English 
Hindi