As expected, the 4th match between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals ended in a high-scoring affair. Rajasthan Royals posted a mammoth 216-run total in the first innings. In reply, Chennai Super Kings fell short of 16 runs as they ended on 200 runs.
Rajasthan Royals have made a good start to the tournament after beating CSK in their first game by 16 runs on Tuesday. Rajasthan Royals played better than Chennai both with bat and ball. Sanju Samson and Steve Smith powered Rajasthan Royals to a mammoth total in the first innings. Samson played a gem of an innings and showed the world why he is rated so highly in Indian cricket.
Samson tore apart CSK’s spinner while exhibiting his clean hitting and sumptuous stroke play. He compiled 74 runs off 32 balls. Skipper Steve Smith anchored the innings with a fine knock of 69 runs off 47 balls. The duo wreaked havoc particularly in the first half of the innings. The fall of Samson’s wicket saw a sudden collapse but Steve Smith made sure he played till the very end. CSK looked like they have pulled it back a little until Jofra Archer smacked 4 sixes in 4 balls in the final over of the innings. RR ended up posting 196 in 20 overs.
CSK, in reply, were off to a not-so-great-start. The openers, for the second time in a row, failed to live up to the expectations. Both the openers fell inside 8 overs, leaving the middle order to do too much. Sam Curran was once again sent up the order. He did play a few beautiful knocks but his stay was short-lived. Kedar Jadhav also left early. Faf du Plessis scored a great knock for the second consecutive match. Though, it came in a losing cause this time around as CSK lost the game by 16 runs.
Chennai Super Kings will play their third match against Delhi Capitals on Friday.
