New Delhi: A mature 33-ball 57 (4x4 4x6) from Rajasthan Royals’ wunderkid Vaibhav Suryavanshi laid the foundation for their six-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings, thereby ensuring they end their poor 2025 IPL campaign with a win, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Tuesday.
Chasing 188 for the win, RR got off to a rapid start through Yashasvi Jaiswal and Suryavanshi, who added 37 runs inside four overs. Skipper Sanju Samson (41 - 31b, 3x4, 2x6) then stitched a formidable 98-run partnership with Suryavanshi that all but put the match to bed. Having demonstrated remarkable hitting ability in his nascent IPL career, the 14-year-old showed he has the game to bat the situation as well.
Samson’s dismissal off Ravichandran Ashwin in the 14th over brought brief excitement to the game as the off-spinner accounted for Suryavanshi four balls later. With both their set batters gone, RR lost Riyan Parag two overs later and their familiar failings while chasing threatened to surface again. Dhruv Jurel (31 - 12b, 2x4, 3x6) and Shimron Hetmyer (12 - 5b, 1x4, 1x6) however ensured there were no further hiccups as RR ended their tournament on a positive note with 17 balls to spare.
Earlier, put in to bat after Samson called correctly at the toss, CSK managed 187/8 in their 20 overs, a total clearly under par considering their scoring rate leading up to the death overs. CSK kept losing wickets throughout their innings but managed to score at nearly 10 an over and looked set for a 200-plus total coming into the last four overs.
{{/usCountry}}Earlier, put in to bat after Samson called correctly at the toss, CSK managed 187/8 in their 20 overs, a total clearly under par considering their scoring rate leading up to the death overs. CSK kept losing wickets throughout their innings but managed to score at nearly 10 an over and looked set for a 200-plus total coming into the last four overs.
{{/usCountry}}However, a combination of accurate death bowling on a batting-friendly Ferozeshah Kotla pitch and CSK batters’ inability to clear the field meant they scored 28 runs for the loss of two wickets in the last four overs. Only two boundaries were scored in this period – a four and a six – even though Shivam Dube and MS Dhoni were at the crease for almost the entirety of the slog overs.
Among the few bright spots for CSK was the positive approach of 17-year-old opener Ayush Mhatre, who stroked a 20-ball 43 (8x4, 1x6), and Dewald Brevis, whose 25-ball 42 (2x4, 3x6) was instrumental in CSK going at nine-an-over in the middle overs.
Coming into the match, CSK had the worst performing top order this season with their top three having a combined average of 23.68 at a strike rate of 140.74. Both numbers are the lowest among the 10 teams. Against RR, they lost opener Devon Conway and No.3 Urvi Patel in the third over. When Mhatre fell on the penultimate ball of the powerplay, the innings threatened to meander before Brevis and Dube gave some solidity.
That, in the end, couldn’t prevent the five-time champions from slipping to their 10th loss in 13 matches.