IPL 2020 Highlights, RR vs CSK Match, Full Cricket Score: Rajasthan Royals clinch victory by 16 runs

Sanju Samson: 

**"**I have been working very hard for a year. Have been working on my diet and training. I have developed my power-hitting as well in the last three-four months. We all are very fortunate to play and entertain the crowd back home."

Sanju Samson is the player of the match

Steve Smith, RR captain: The last surge from Jofra was an incredible bit of hitting, Samson played an unbelievable knock upfront. MS smashed a few in the end, and Faf got going too, but nice to get a win. Jos is a quality player and we’ll see what happens when he comes back, hard to take the opening slot away from someone like him.

MS Dhoni:

“With 217 on board, we needed to have a good start. Once you’ve seen the first innings, you know the length to bowl. Their spinners did well to bowl away from the batsman. We could have controlled no-balls. I haven’t batted in a very long time (reasons for coming down the order). The 14-day quarantine doesn’t help.”.

That’s it! RR win by 16 runs. 

217 was always going to be a massive challenge and CSK have fallen short here by some margin, remember Ngidi was smoked for 30 runs in his last over during RR’s innings. In any case, a winning start for RR to IPL 2020. CSK lose their first match of the season.

SIX! This time Dhoni goes over backward square leg. 18 needed from last ball.

SIX! Another massive six from Dhoni and what a powerful hit. It was a slower delivery and Dhoni just whacked it over long on fence. 24 needed from last 2 balls

SIX! First boundary for Dhoni. This is a brutal slog over midwicket against Curran. CSK needed him to fire from the beginning. 30 needed in last 3 balls.

After 19 overs,Chennai Super Kings 179/6 ( MS Dhoni (C) (W) 9 , Ravindra Jadeja 0)

Faf’s lone battle comes to an end after a knock of 72 off 37. The short delivery from Archer was too close to pull but Faf still went for it and top-edged it to the keeper. 10 from the over. 36 needed from last over.

OUT! du Plessis c Samson b Jofra Archer 72(37)

Game over? Short delivery from Archer, into Faf’s body as he tried to play the pull shot but could only manage to top-edge it to the keeper. A good innings comes to an end.

SIX! Slow and short from Archer and that delivery had six written all over it. Faf waited for it before smoking it over long on

After 18 overs,Chennai Super Kings 169/5 ( Faf du Plessis 63 , MS Dhoni (C) (W) 8)

10 from the over, so a decent over from Curran. He started poorly as the half-volley was smoked over log off for a six by Faf but the bowler recovered well with some good yorkers and slower deliveries. 48 needed from last two overs.

SIX! Ordinary half-volley by Curran outside off and all Faf had to do was to clear his front foot to create some room as he smashed it over long off

Faf du Plessis today boundary (4/6) counter:

First 18 balls : 0 
Next 12 balls : 7

After 17 overs,Chennai Super Kings 159/5 ( Faf du Plessis 55 , MS Dhoni (C) (W) 6)

Finally a big over for CSK. 21 coming from Unadkat’s over as Faf reaches to his fifty. He smoked three sixes in this over and two them went over long on fence. One was down the ground. 58 needed from 3 overs.

FIFTY! 14th IPL half-century for Faf and he reaches there with a six down the ground. Lovely shot. Lovely innings.

SIX! What power from Faf to pick the short ball from his shoulder height and send it into the stands beyond long on boundary

MS Dhoni’s SR against Unadkat in IPL is 238.24.

SIX! Faf steps out against the pacer Unadkat to get to the pitch of the slower ball and clobbers it over wide of long on

After 16 overs,Chennai Super Kings 138/5 ( Faf du Plessis 36 , MS Dhoni (C) (W) 4)

Seven runs from he 16th over. Not what you think CSK was targeting but Archer would not complain. Just one boundary as Faf dissected the offside field perfectly. Dhoni struggling to pick the fast deliveries of Archer. 79 needed new.

SR in death overs in IPL:

MS Dhoni : 178.0
Faf du Plessis : 169.7

FOUR! We have seen Faf play this so many times. No cover in deep on off, Faf takes his front foot away and makes some room to smash the short ball from Archer through the cover region

MS Dhoni v RR in IPL:

Innings : 19 
Runs : 420 
Average : 42.00 
SR : 131.25 
4/6 : 25/16

MS Dhoni’s SR batting at No.7 in IPL is 137.00.
MS Dhoni’s SR against leg-break bowlers in IPL is 110.3.

After 15 overs,Chennai Super Kings 131/5 ( Faf du Plessis 31 , MS Dhoni (C) (W) 3)

16 from the over but Tewatia could very well have had the wicket of Faf as the batsman shimmied down for a lofted shot to long on but Riyan Parag lost the ball in the light and gave away a maximum. Faf added another six in the over with a gigantic six over the same region. 86 more needed.

SIX! Huge. It was in the slot by Tewatia and Faf didn’t have to step out for it this time, just waited for it and smoked it over long on fence

SIX! A maximum for Faf. He could have been out as he came charging down for the biggie over long on against Tewatia but Parag the fielder lost the ball in the light

After 14 overs,Chennai Super Kings 115/5 ( Faf du Plessis 17 , MS Dhoni (C) (W) 1)

RR have their fielders positioned on the boundary line but CSK batsmen are busy playing the grounded shots. And when they attempt the big one, they are unable to time it as did Faf after getting a free hit from Curran, which went straight to the long on fielder.  Meanwhile, Jadhav is back in the hut, he was caught excellently by keeper Samson as the outside edge went flying to him. Dhoni is the new batsman. 102 now needed.

OUT! Kedar Jadhav c Samson b Tom Curran 22(16) 

Jadhav wanted to clear the midwicket boundary and went for a pull shot but the ball got bigger on him, took the outside edge and flew to Samson who timed his jump excellently to take a one-handed catch.

After 13 overs,Chennai Super Kings 108/4 ( Faf du Plessis 13 , Kedar Jadhav 21)

Okay, so we are back to easy singles. It’s good bowling by Unadkat but where is the intent? The required rate is over 15 but CSK’s plan looks like is to take the game deep. Seven from this over. 109 now needed.

After 12 overs,Chennai Super Kings 101/4 ( Faf du Plessis 10 , Kedar Jadhav 18)

Much better over for CSK. 15 coming from it as Jadhav smashed three boundaries. 116 now needed in eight overs. The pitch map shows good length has been the best area for spinners but Gopal was all over the pitch, went full, got hit for a boundary down the ground. Bowled wide and Jadhav sliced it to square fence before smashing one to extra cover boundary. 100 up for CSK.

FOUR! Excellent shot. The best one by Jadhav so far. Length ball from Gopal and it has been smashed to extra cover fence with a lovely looking drive

FOUR! Just a bit of width of the offer by Gopal and Jadhav was quick to slice it to the square of wicket to add another boundary

FOUR! This was muscled down the ground by Jadhav as Gopal went too full. Good start to the over for CSK with a boundary

After 11 overs,Chennai Super Kings 86/4 ( Faf du Plessis 9 , Kedar Jadhav 4)

Dot balls are like gold dust in T20 cricket but it can also be like dynamites if you have a big total to chase. For some reason, CSK look happy with dot balls, singles and rotating the strike. Just four runs from Tewatia’s over. 131 needed now to win for CSK.

After 10 overs,Chennai Super Kings 82/4 ( Faf du Plessis 7 , Kedar Jadhav 2)

Kedar Jadhav is the new man to join Faf in the middle. CSK have a mountain ahead of them and they managed just five runs in this over of Gopal. So they still need 135 from here.

After 9 overs,Chennai Super Kings 77/4 ( Faf du Plessis 4 , Kedar Jadhav 0)

Game winning over? Tewatia gave away 13 runs with two sixes to Curran but he also got two wickets in the over. CSK are four wickets down and need 140 in 11 overs. Curran came out twice down the ground and smashed big sixes over long on but the next time he tried that, Tewatia’s googly beat him as his stumps were broken. Debutant Gaikwad had an opportunity to impress but he squandered the chance by charging out on the first delivery and also got stumped. Can CSK win from here?

OUT! Ruturaj Gaikwad st Samson b Rahul Tewatia 0(1)

Gaikwad out for a golden duck on his debut. A bit foolish by the batsman to step out on the first ball, Tewatia was smart enough to push the ball out wide and was rewarded with a wicket.

OUT! Sam Curran st Samson b Rahul Tewatia 17(6) 

Smart bowling from Tewatia. He shortened his length to get the googly past Curran’s outside edge as the batsman stepped out again and got stumped.

SIX! This is what CSK needed after Watson departed. Another shimmy down the ground by Curran and another swing through the line over long on boundary.

SIX! Excellent shot. Curran steps out against the looping delivery from Tewatia and slams it over long on fence.

After 8 overs,Chennai Super Kings 64/2 ( Faf du Plessis 3 , Sam Curran 5)

After Tewatia, another leg-spinner Gopal takes a wicket. The pull has been the most productive shot today but Vijay was guilty of not timing it perfectly there as he holed one out at deep midwicket. Sam Curran has been sent in at No 4 to up the ante for CSK and he got a boundary on the first ball with a pull to midwicket. Seven off the over.

FOUR! Lovely short on first ball by Sam Curran. He spotted the short ball and went with a full swing of the bat to find the gap between long on and deep midwicket fielder.

OUT! Vijay c Tom Curran b Shreyas Gopal 21(21) 

The boundaries at Sharjah stadium are small but you still need to clear them. Vijay went for pull shot against the short ball but failed to time his shot and found the fielder in the deep.

After 7 overs,Chennai Super Kings 57/1 ( Murali Vijay 21 , Faf du Plessis 1)

Tewatia into attack and gets the big wicket of Watson. That’s a massive loss for CSK. Remember there’s no Rayudu also today. Watson erred in his judgement, the ball was not short enough for the pull but he still went for it as the ball skidded onto his pads and crashed into the stumps. Just four from the over.

OUT! Watson b Rahul Tewatia 33(21)

Watson gets out trying to play his favourite pull shot. The ball skidded into him as Watson tried to go on backfoot, hit his pads and crashed into the stumps. The length was not right for a pull.

After 6 overs,Chennai Super Kings 53/0 ( Murali Vijay 19 , Shane Watson 32)

17 runs from Tom Curran’s first over. It was some very ordinary bowling. A streak of short deliveries with medium pace and Watson made most of it with two sixes on leg and a boundary past third man fielder. Good powerplay in the end for CSK.

FOUR! This was also shorter in length but on off and Watson was quick to pick his fielder and dabbed it past the third man

SIX! Curran went short again, even shorter this time and it has gone further than the previous shot with a massive pull from Watson.

SIX! That’s a fatal line to bowl by Tom Curran. Halfway down the pitch, angled towards leg and all Watson had to do was to help it over backward square leg boundary

After 5 overs,Chennai Super Kings 36/0 ( Murali Vijay 19 , Shane Watson 16)

The pacers have given RR a good start but Smith wanted Shreyas Gopal to come in and it has not been a good start for the leggie. 11 from the over. Gopal was guilty of bowling short on two occasions, first time Vijay hit him for a four and second time Watson crashed it over the backward square leg roof for a six. CSK have got the momentum now.

SIX! Another short delivery and this time the result is different, it’s a six. Watshon whacked it over the roof.

FOUR! Leggie Shreyas Gopal is guilty of bowling short and Vijay had enough time to go back and pull it to backward square leg boundary

After 4 overs,Chennai Super Kings 25/0 ( Murali Vijay 14 , Shane Watson 10)

The first ball of the over from Archer was thrashed over square leg by Watson for a six but it was followed by a brilliant comeback by the pacer. After a cutter on first ball, Archer went fast and got the ball zip into Watson’s pads, the decision was not out. The remaining four balls also fetched no runs.

SIX! A typical Watson shot. And it’s the first six of the innings. He picked the cutter early and just pummeled it over the square leg

After 3 overs,Chennai Super Kings 19/0 ( Murali Vijay 14 , Shane Watson 4)

Finally a boundary for CSK, two in fact. Both coming from Vijay’s bat. 11 from the over. Unadkat strayed onto the pads and Vijay tickled it to fine leg fence before picking the off side delivery and smashing it over mid off fielder. The pacer was quick to correct his line and used cutters to take back control of things.

FOUR! Stand and deliver. Unadkat went from leg to off, Vijay stood straight and powered it down the ground for consecutive boundaries

FOUR! First boundary of the innings. Unadkat went a little too leg and just a fine tickle from Vijay gets him a four

After 2 overs,Chennai Super Kings 8/0 ( Murali Vijay 5 , Shane Watson 3)

Another good over. Archer starts off by giving away just three singles. There hasn’t been any flashy shot so far, largely because of the tight lines. Vijay though had an expansive drive which was saved by point fielder.

After 1 overs,Chennai Super Kings 5/0 ( Murali Vijay 3 , Shane Watson 2)

Very good first over by left-armer Unadkat and he has the angle to help him with protection on leg. The pacer targeted the body of right-hander batsmen and only gave away five singles. One of them was a result of an overthrow, so RR would want not to repeat that.

CSK openers’ SR against RR in IPL:

Murali Vijay: 139.16
Shane Watson: 150.47

Most sixes hit against CSK in an IPL match:

17 : KKR, Chennai, 2018 

17 : RR, Sharjah, 2020*

It’s a massive chase and Murali Vijay and Shane Watson are the men who will begin the task for CSK. Dhoni said at the toss that the pitch should slow down with time and that only makes the task more gigantic. Vijay will face the first delivery from Jaydev Unadkat.

After 20 overs,Rajasthan Royals 216/7 ( Tom Curran 10 , Jofra Archer 27)

Archer absolutely demolishes Ngidi. He smashes four sixes in the over which includes a wide and two no-balls. 30 runs from the final over as Rajasthan post 216/7 in 20 overs. 

Tough task ahead for CSK batters.

WOOOAHH!

Ngidi pitches the ball up and Archer makes the connection over straight boundary. And guess what? It’s another no ball. What’s happening?

THIRD SIX!

This time over deep mid-wicket and it’s also a no-ball. Pressure on Ngidi.

Another massive hit!

Ngidi goes short but Archer connects it to send the ball outside the park.

Oh what a hit from Archer!

Picks the slower one and gets the maximum result over bowler’s head.

After 19 overs,Rajasthan Royals 186/7 ( Tom Curran 9 , Jofra Archer 1)

Sam Curran does quite well in his final over. Takes the important wicket of Steve Smith and then gives away nine runs. He finishes with figures of 3/33. Time for the final over.

After 19 overs,Rajasthan Royals 186/7 ( Tom Curran 9 , Jofra Archer 1)

Sam Curran does quite well in his final over. Takes the important wicket of Steve Smith and then gives away nine runs. He finishes with figures of 3/33. Time for the final over.

A good yorker from Sam Curran to his brother Tom but an edge results in a boundary.

Smith departs!

Tries to clear the deep mid-wicket fielder but fails. A good knock comes to end. Smith c Kedar Jadhav b Sam Curran 69(47)

After 18 overs,Rajasthan Royals 177/6 ( Steven Smith (C) 69 , Tom Curran 1)

Chahar with the ball. The first one is on the pads as Smith takes a single. Tom Curran is the new one in the middle. He plays and misses the shot but Dhoni’s misfield results in a bye. A big confusion results in Curran’s not out. He’s given out by the on-field umpire for a catch by wicket-keeper but replays shows Dhoni’s grabs the chance after the ball pitched in front of him. The ball also misses the bat so in the end it’s a good call.

After 17 overs,Rajasthan Royals 173/6 ( Steven Smith (C) 67 , )

Sam Curran into the attack and in the second ball, he gets rid of Rahul Tewatia with a good low full-toss that results in a LBW. Riyan Parag is the new man in and he comes up a good drive on the off-side for a double. After conceding a boundary, Curran gets his revenge as he forces an edge off Parag. Two wickets and seven runs from the over.

Parag edges one to Dhoni and that’s another wicket for Curran. Riyan Parag c Dhoni b Sam Curran 6(4)

Edge and Parag finds the gap for his first boundary of the night.

LBW!

Low full toss from Curran as Tewatia misses the shot. He takes the review but DRS shows all three parameters in red. Rahul Tewatia lbw b Sam Curran 10(8)

After 16 overs,Rajasthan Royals 166/4 ( Steven Smith (C) 66 , Rahul Tewatia 10)

Ngidi to bowl his third of the day. It’s a costly one from the pacer. Smith and Tewatia smash two boundaries to put the bowler under pressure. He gives away 12 runs.

Tewatia scores his first boundary of the night. On the up and the southpaw smashes the ball over covers region.

Steve Smith with a creative hit! Sends the ball over shot fine-leg fielder for a boundary!

After 15 overs,Rajasthan Royals 154/4 ( Steven Smith (C) 61 , Rahul Tewatia 3)

Rahul Tewatia joins Steve Smith in the middle. Smith moves into sixties. Chawla finishes his four over quota conceding 55 runs. His last two overs didn’t cost that much but all the damage was done in his first two overs. Five overs remaining in the innings.

A wicket for Piyush Chawla! 

Good catch from Faf at the boundary as Uthappa departs cheaply. Uthappa c du Plessis b Chawla 5(9)

After 14 overs,Rajasthan Royals 149/3 ( Steven Smith (C) 59 , Robin Uthappa 5)

Jadeja has come to bowl his final over. After two singles, Uthappa goes for the big hit but fails to time the ball so just a single. Tough chance for Curran at the boundary as he drops the catch for a maximum. So Jadeja gives away 40 runs in his four overs.

Smith hits hard as Curran on the long-off boundary tries for the catch but fumbles it over the line.

After 13 overs,Rajasthan Royals 137/3 ( Steven Smith (C) 51 , Robin Uthappa 2)

Chawla back into the attack. Robin Uthappa is the new batsman in and Dhoni tries to get an over from the leg-spinner, who has been very costly. There’s a stumping appeal in the fifth ball but the Uthappa’s leg is nicely grounded. A single to end the over so just three runs from the six balls.

After 12 overs,Rajasthan Royals 134/3 ( Steven Smith (C) 50 , )

Ngidi comes back into the attack. The pacer is not giving much room to the batsmen. The fourth ball is short and wide but it fetches him the important wicket of Samson. Smith completes his half-century but the double resulted in a run-out. Tough on David Miller but it’s a good throw from Gaikwad.

RUN-OUT!

David Miller fails to reach the line on time as he departs without facing a ball.  Miller run out (Ruturaj Gaikwad/Kedar Jadhav) 0(0).

GONE!

Short and wide from Ngidi as Samson goes for a big hit on the off-side. Deepak Chahar grabs a good catch to send Samson back to the pavilion. A brilliant knock comes to an end. Samson c Chahar b Ngidi 74(32)

After 11 overs,Rajasthan Royals 129/1 ( Steven Smith (C) 47 , Sanju Samson (W) 73)

Jadeja gives away 10 runs, including a six but considering the situation of the match, it’s a decent over from the left-arm spinner. We might see a fantastic century from Samson. He should seriously try and achieve it in this match.

I’m losing the count here. Yet another hit straight down the ground from Samson. Jadeja has no answers to this hitting.

After 10 overs,Rajasthan Royals 119/1 ( Steven Smith (C) 45 , Sanju Samson (W) 66)

Chawla needs to hide somewhere. Yet another costly over as he goes for 47 runs from his two overs. No mercy is shown by Smith and Samson as they plunder the leg-spinner for a string of sixes.

Little bit width offered from Chawla as Smith cuts the ball fine for a boundary.

Samson now takes the opportunity to smash another maximum. Against straight down the ground. This is sublime hitting and pity Chawla.

Flight again from Chawla and Smith clears the straight boundary.

After 9 overs,Rajasthan Royals 100/1 ( Steven Smith (C) 33 , Sanju Samson (W) 59)

Jadeja continues. Samson pushes the ball on the off-side for a single. A big appeal in the second ball for LBW against Smith but the umpire says no. A very close call as it shows three reds in replay but CSK don’t take the review. A chance is missed but this is a good over from Jadeja. Just four runs off the over.

Steve Smith v Ravindra Jadeja in IPL:

Runs : 52 
Balls : 58 
Dismissals : 5 
Dots : 22
4/6: 2/1

After 8 overs,Rajasthan Royals 96/1 ( Steven Smith (C) 31 , Sanju Samson (W) 57)

Another costly over for CSK. The spinners are getting treatment from Samson. Piyush Chawla concedes 28 runs from his first over, which includes four huge sixes. Three of them smashed by Samson and a free-hit is punished by Smith. Pure, T20 batting. CSK might regret bowling spinners on this pitch.

Fastest fifties for RR in IPL: (By balls)

18 – Jos Buttler v DC, Delhi, 2018
19 – Owais Shah v RCB, Bangalore, 2012
19 – Sanju Samson v CSK, Sharjah, 2020*

Time for Smith to get into the act. 

A free hit and Smith sends the ball to the stands on the off-side.

Oh goodness! Another one! 

Samson clobbers the ball over Chawla’s head. He’s clearing the boundaries with ease.

Oh beauty! Fourth six of his innings as Samson clears the extra covers boundary. He scores his fifty in just 19 balls.

Another maximum from Samson. Chawla bowls his first ball and the batsman sends it over long on.

After 7 overs,Rajasthan Royals 68/1 ( Steven Smith (C) 24 , Sanju Samson (W) 37)

Jadeja will like to forget his first over. Goes for the flight against Samson but the straight boundaries are short and the batsman makes full use of it with two huge sixes. 14 runs from the over.

Another one! This time over long-off for a huge maximum. Samson is on fire!

Jadeja into the attack and he gets the treatment. Flight offered as Samson clears the long-on boundary with ease.

After 6 overs,Rajasthan Royals 54/1 ( Steven Smith (C) 23 , Sanju Samson (W) 24)

Chahar bowls his third over. Starts off with fifth stump line and fuller delivery as Samson pushes for a single. Smith is watchful as he takes another single on the off-side. After conceding the six, Chahar check his length, bowling on the up but gets his line wrong to concede a boundary. A single to end the over. Both Smith and Samson are finding more freedom with each over.

This time, it is a fuller length ball on the pads as Steve Smith guides it past short fine-leg for a four.

OH WOW!

Again short and Samson sends the ball to the stands on the leg-side. He’s a treat to watch.

After 5 overs,Rajasthan Royals 40/1 ( Steven Smith (C) 17 , Sanju Samson (W) 16)

Curran continues. Smith pushes the ball towards the mid-off region for a quick single. Samson then makes room and goes for the slash on the off-side but misses the ball. Curran tries the short stuff to Samson but gets punished with a four off the edge and then a six over deep square-leg. A double on the off-side followed by a single. Costly over from Curran.

Short from Curran and Samson times the ball to perfection for a maximum over deep square-leg. Top, top shot!

Samson cuts hard against Curran but there’s no slip fielder as the ball runs to the boundary.

After 4 overs,Rajasthan Royals 26/1 ( Steven Smith (C) 16 , Sanju Samson (W) 3)

Ngidi does well after conceding a six off his first ball. The maximum is followed by a dot and a single. Pitches up to Sanju who pushes the ball to square-leg for no run. Another dot ball, this time thanks to good fielding from Jadeja at point. Ngidi tries the bouncer in the final ball as Sanju goes for the big shot. The ball falls in no man’s land on the leg-side and the batsmen run a double.

Sanju Samson has an average of 11.29 and a SR of 100.0 against CSK in IPL from seven innings.

Sanju Samson’s SR in IPL:

01-05 overs: 118.6
06-10 overs: 120.2 
11-15 overs: 127.3 
16-20 overs: 189.3

Lungi Ngidi starts off short and Smith works the ball on the leg-side for a maximum.

After 3 overs,Rajasthan Royals 17/1 ( Steven Smith (C) 9 , Sanju Samson (W) 1)

A wicket over Chahar. Goes for a boundary in the first ball but then comes back well to remove the wicket of Jaiswal. He sticks to bowling shorter deliveries despite the four and is rewarded with a wicket. Sanju Samson is the new man in. Smith hits a four in the fifth ball and then takes a quick single to end the over.

Short again from Chahar and this time, Smith finds the boundary on the deep square-leg area.

GONE!

Jaiswal goes for the pull but gets a top edge and Chahar makes no mistake in grabbing the chance. First wicket down for RR. Jaiswal c and b Chahar 6(6)

Bit short from Chahar and Jaiswal sends the ball on the onside for the first boundary of the match.

After 2 overs,Rajasthan Royals 7/0 ( Yashasvi Jaiswal 2 , Steven Smith (C) 4)

Sam Curran bowls the second over. No run off the first ball to Smith. The second ball is way off and umpire signals wide. Checks his line in the next ball and doesn’t give much room for Smith to free his arms. Smith then pushes the ball to the off-side for a single. Curran then bowls on the pads of Jaiswal and the batsman takes a single on the on side. The fifth ball is on the shorter side, Smith goes for the pull but fails to get the timing right. No run. He plays and misses the final ball of the over. Good stuff from Curran.

Steve Smith in 1-5 overs in IPL:

Runs : 200
Dismissals : 4
Average : 64.2 
SR : 128.5 
Dot% : 42.0

After 1 overs,Rajasthan Royals 4/0 ( Yashasvi Jaiswal 1 , Steven Smith (C) 3)

Deepak Chahar starts off with an outswinger to Jaiswal who leaves the ball for keeper. Jaiswal comes down the track for the second ball and punches it straight to mid-off. No run. He guides the third ball to third-man area for a single. Steve Smith gets one straight to his pads as he flicks to the on-side for a double. He tries a similar shot in the next ball but this time, it is straight to the fielder. A quick single to end the over. Four from the first six balls.

Alright then. Time for some cricketing action. Deepak Chahar with the new ball for CSK. Skipper Steve Smith will open the innings for RR along with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Yashasvi Jaiswal is making his IPL debut today. He was the player of the series at U-9 World Cup 2020.

Ruturaj Gaikwad makes it to CSK XI today. He was the second highest run-scorer in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, 2019/20 (419 runs, 146.50 SR).

RR v CSK in IPL:

Matches played: 21
RR won: 7 
CSK won: 14

Steve Smith at the toss:

“The dew factor as MS just pointed out will come into the game. Bat first and hopefully we do it well.”

Rajasthan Royals playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Robin Uthappa, Sanju Samson (wk), Steven Smith (c), David Miller, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Tom Curran, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat.

Chennai Super Kings playing XI: Murali Vijay, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, MS Dhoni (w/c), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla, Lungi Ngidi.

Four foreigners for Rajasthan Royals: Steve Smith, David Miller, Jofra Archer and Tom Curran.

MS Dhoni:

“Only one change. Ambati Rayudu is not 100 percent fit so Ruturaj Gaikwad comes in.”

Toss report

MS Dhoni wins the toss and CSK will bowl first.

Pitch report of the Sharjah wicket:

No grass on the wicket. The bounce is going to be fair and it will be low. Respect the pitch and you can score quickly, reckons Kevin Pietersen. 

The boundaries are shorter so there will be a lot of sixes and fours, thinks Sunil Gavaskar.

Milestones approaching:

MS Dhoni needs 68 more to complete 4500 IPL runs
Robin Uthappa is one shy from 25 IPL fifties landmark
David Miller is one catch short of 50 IPL catches

Stats attack:

RR’s record at the venue in Sharjah: Played 1, Lost 1

CSK’s record at the venue in Sharjah: Played 1, Won 1

We brought you CSK’s season preview in their first match, it’s time to have a look at RR’s chances for this season. Firstpost’s Shubham Pandey says — Their (RR) major worry has been the inability to finish games and not winning the crunch moments in the matches. The Aussie duo of Smith and (coach) McDonald will be aiming to fix it this season. But Stokes’ absence will make this problem even more challenging.

Click here to read the full preview.

Any idea which team is RR’s bogey opponent?

The answer is CSK. RR have lost 14 of the 21 matches played against them and won just 7 and have the worst loss percentage 66.66 percent (For teams against whom RR has played 10 or more matches).

If you want to know everything about RR’s IPL history, click here . For CSK, head over here .

Recap: CSK defeat MI in the first match of season

CSK began their campaign against defending champions MI on the first day of IPL 2020. Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis struck half-centuries as Dhoni and Co secured a five-wicket win. 

In case you want to check the match report, click here

Ruturaj back in training

There’s some good news for CSK also with batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad returning to training after clearing two COVID-19 tests. He was one of the two CSK players who had tested positive for coronavirus earlier. It’s, however, not clear whether he will play today or not.

Here are the complete squads for both the teams playing today:

Rajasthan Royals Squad: Robin Uthappa, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w), Steven Smith(c), David Miller, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Aniruddha Joshi, Manan Vohra, Ankit Rajpoot, Andrew Tye, Rahul Tewatia, Shashank Singh, Mahipal Lomror, Oshane Thomas, Mayank Markande, Anuj Rawat, Kartik Tyagi, Akash Singh

Chennai Super Kings Squad: Murali Vijay, Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Kedar Jadhav, Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla, Lungi Ngidi, Karn Sharma, Josh Hazlewood, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur, Monu Kumar, Mitchell Santner, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, N Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif

Every teams desires to make a winning start to the tournament and CSK have already done that. RR for sure has the same aim but it’s not going to be easy after all they are against Dhoni’s men who are mature and mighty, on the other hand RR are without Jos Buttler, who is missing the match due to quarantine restrictions, and Ben Stokes, who is still in New Zealand with his ailing father. Good news for Rajasthan is that their skipper Smith is available from the first match. He missed the entire ODI series against England after taking a blow on his head during a training session. It would be interesting to see how he fares in his first match. 

The match will be played at Sharjah so considering the nature of the pitch and small size of the ground, we can expect a high-scoring match.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the Indian Premier League 2020 match between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings at Sharjah Cricket Stadium. 

MS Dhoni’s CSK have already won their opening match against Mumbai so they would look to maintain their winning momentum while Steve Smith-led Rajasthan Royals will aim to begin their campaign with a victory. 

Looks like we will have a cracker of a game so stay tuned for all the updates from the match.