Guwahati: Nitish Rana smashed a blistering 36-ball 81, while leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga starred with a four-wicket haul as Rajasthan Royals (RR) opened their account with a hard-fought six-run victory over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the IPL here on Sunday.
Promoted to number 3, left-handed Rana dominated the CSK bowlers, hitting 10 boundaries and 5 sixes en route his scintillating knock but Royals struggled towards back-end just about manage a par-score of 182 for 9.
CSK, who had never successfully chased a target over 180 since 2019, faltered again, managing 176 for six in the allotted overs. The chase was built around skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 63, but it wasn’t enough as CSK succumbed to their second consecutive loss.
The legend of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s last over finishes in IPL is fast becoming a story of yesterday as he failed to muscle Maheesh Theekshana and Sandeep Sharma. Chasing 183, CSK found themselves at 5/1 in the first three overs, with Jofra Archer starting with a maiden wicket over, dismissing Rachin Ravindra (0).
A few lusty blows from Rahul Tripathi (23) and Gaikwad (63) helped CSK reach 42/1 in the powerplay.
Hasaranga made an immediate impact, removing Tripathi, who was caught by Shimron Hetmyer, while Shivam Dube (18) looked dangerous, hammering two sixes off the Sri Lankan spinner. However, a moment of brilliance from stand-in captain Riyan Parag proved to be a game-changer.
Parag, playing in front of his home crowd, dived to his right from cover to take a stunning catch to dismiss Dube.
Despite Gaikwad’s resistance, CSK continued to lose wickets, with Hasaranga dismissing Vijay Shankar (9) after a big six. Gaikwad reached his fifty off 37 balls, but soon fell to Hasaranga, becoming his fourth victim, as CSK slumped to 129 for 5.
With CSK needing 39 off 12 balls, MS Dhoni (16), cheered by the crowd, hit a boundary over short third and a towering six over long-on off a profligate Tushar Deshpande. Ravindra Jadeja (32) also joined in, sweeping the bowler for a huge six over deep backward square leg. Sandeep Sharma was tasked with the final over, and he struck the crucial blow by removing Dhoni, with Shimron Hetmyer taking a stunning catch to eventually defend 20 runs in the last six balls.
Earlier, Royals suffered an early setback when opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, after hitting a boundary on the first ball, was dismissed by Khaleel but it was Nitish’s show from thereon, as he added 82 runs off 42 balls with Sanju Samson (20) to lay a solid foundation for Rajasthan.
Nitish read the length of the ball perfectly, playing exquisite strokes to provide early momentum. He flicked, pulled, and even ramped the pacers for sixes, while using the slog sweep behind square to get two sixes off Ravichandran Ashwin.
The southpaw reached his fifty in just 21 balls as RR raced to 79/1 in the powerplay, their third-highest total in IPL history.
Noor broke the 82-run second wicket stand with Samson holing out to Rachin Ravindra at long-off.
At 99/2 in the 10th over, Nitish continued his assault, flicking Matheesha Pathirana for a six, while also slog sweeping and reverse slog sweeping Ashwin for a six and a four, respectively.
However, Ashwin had the last laugh, as he deliberately bowled a wide delivery out of Nitish’s hitting arc and Mahendra Singh Dhoni did the needful behind the stumps.