IPL 2022, CSK vs RR, Top Performances: Ashwin's 40*, 1-28 tops Moeen's 93; RR to face GT in Q1

IPL 2022, CSK vs RR, Top Performances: Ravichandran Ashwin's 40*, 1-28, Yashasvi Jaiswal's 59 and Moeen Ali's 93 are top three performances. RR to face GT in Qualifier 1

Ashwin's 40* & 1-28 tops Moeen Ali's 93 for CSK (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Brief Scores: RR 151/5 (Jaiswal 59, Ashwin 40*, Solanki 2/20) beat CSK 150/6 (Moeen 93, Dhoni 26, McCoy 2/20, Chahal 2/26) by 5 wickets

Player of the Match: Ravichandran Ashwin - 40* & 1/28

Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 5 wickets in Match 68 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Friday. With this win, Sanju Samson and co powered themselves ahead of Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) to the second place in IPL 2022 league phase.

CSK came into this game after succumbing to defeat in their last two encounters, while on the other hand, RR won both their last two games when they played at this venue. They defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 24 runs on May 15, owing to a collective effort from both the batting and bowling units. While CSK conceded another victory to Gujarat Titans by 7 wickets in a modest run-scoring encounter. For this match-up, power-hitter Shimron Hetmyer came in for Jimmy Neesham for RR and Ambati Rayudu replaced Shivam Dube in CSK’s playing XI.

CSK’s tale from rampant powerplay to death overs choke

After winning the toss, CSK skipper MS Dhoni opted to bat first, while his counterpart Sanju Samson was comfortable with either decision. CSK got off to a flying start, despite losing Ruturaj Gaikwaj cheaply. The key anchor of the entire CSK innings, Moeen Ali also remained the top-scorer of the game with 93 runs off 57 balls. Owing to his knock, CSK managed to pile up 75 runs in the powerplay overs. However, with the bare-minimum contribution from other batters, CSK’s innings slowed down where at one point the projected score was 170-180 runs.

Although, Moeen and skipper MS Dhoni (26) stitched a 51-run partnership, however, both the batters got out at the time of power hitting after falling to Obed McCoy (2/20) and Yuzvendra Chahal (2/26), respectively, as the scorecard stopped at 150/6 after 20 overs.

In their quest for 151 runs, RR lost Jos Buttler early on for a personal score of just 2. However, with a mindful knock from Yashasvi Jaiswal (59), followed by the crucial knock from Ravichandran Ashwin (40* off 29 balls), RR sailed to victory in their final league stage game.

Here are the top performances of the game between CSK and RR, Match 68, IPL 2022:

Moeen Ali's 93 against RR goes in vain as RR beat CSK (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Moeen Ali assaults RR players with his all-round show

Moeen Ali came to the crease when CSK lost the first wicket in the form of Ruturaj Gaikwad with a flamboyant delivery from Trent Boult, who dislodged CSK’s opening batting menace in the first over. From there on, it was CSK’s powerplay to own as both the left-handed batters raced to the 50-run mark and 75 runs after 6 overs.

The precursor to the entire fireworks was the fourth over, when Moeen Ali smacked Prasidh Krishna for 18 runs. He followed suit by exhibiting more range of shots for boundaries and sixes in the next over bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin which yielded 16 runs. And the last over of the powerplay, that yielded the most, 26 runs, was a virtual treat for the spectators as Moeen took down Trent Boult for a six and four boundaries. And with that carnage, the southpaw reached his fifth IPL half-century off just 19 deliveries. However, he lacked support from the other end, later on in the innings, owing to tight spells from RR bowlers and a lack of grit from CSK batters. As a result, the England player managed to add the next 43 runs off 38 deliveries, before departing in the 20th over on 93 runs.

With Moeen’s knock and precious little contribution from other batters, CSK managed to post 150/6 after 20 overs. With ball in hand, Moeen finished with 1/21 in four overs including the wicket of Devdutt Padikkal (3 off 9 balls).

Read More: IPL 2022: Curious case of Ravindra Jadeja; Is it the end of the road for him in yellow?

Yashasvi Jaiswal raises his bat post scoring half century against CSK (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Yashasvi Jaiswal flourishes despite RR’s top order hiccups

Chasing 150 runs to occupy the second spot in the league phase, RR lost the season’s Orange Cap holder Jos Buttler cheaply, who got out off a delivery bowled by pacer Simarjeet Singh (1/18) in the second over. However, Yashasvi Jaiswal with his intent and flair, hit scores of boundaries and helped the side accumulate 52 runs in the powerplay with the skipper Sanju Samson.

Unfortunately, RR lost Samson (15) to Mitchell Santner, putting an end to the 51-run partnership between the two batters. Despite the blow, Jaiswal remained in the middle, thereby ensuring RR’s winning chances in the game. En route, Jaiswal reached his third IPL fifty off 39 balls in the 14th over, as RR required 56 runs off 36 deliveries. He added 9 more runs to his pivotal innings before getting out in the 15th over in Prashant Solanki’s over. Jaiswal got out on 59 runs off 44 balls and remained the top-scorer for RR when no top-order batter’s innings took off.

Read More: IPL 2022, LSG vs RR, Top Performances: Jaiswal 41, Padikkal 39, bowlers help RR overtake LSG

Ashwin gets player of the match against CSK for 40 runs & 1-28 (Images ©BCCI/IPL)

Ravichandran Ashwin takes RR to victory post

Former CSK bowling all-rounder caused the deepest cut to CSK with his all-round show. Firstly, he took the most crucial wicket of the menacing Devon Conway (16), by trapping him leg before wicket, when the Kiwi batter looked to open his arms. During his spell, Ravichandran Ashwin conceded 28 runs in four overs at an economy of 7 RPO, including the crucial scalp of Conway under his belt.

With bat, he played a million-dollar knock that ended in a winning cause for RR. He came into bat when RR needed 74 runs off 53 balls with 7 wickets in hand. He kept the scorecard ticking and banked on loose deliveries to park them for periodical sixes and boundaries. During that time, he survived an LBW call from off Matheesha Pathirana’s delivery in the 18th over.

RR required 18 runs off 11 balls when Ashwin eased things a little more for side, by clearing the ball for a massive six off Mukesh Choudhary, followed by a boundary in the final over when RR needed 7 runs for the win. Ashwin remained RR’s second-best hitter with an unbeaten 40* off 23 balls and propelled RR to a 5-wicket win over CSK.

With this win, RR are slated to face Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on May 24.

Read More: IPL 2022, CSK vs GT, Top Performances: Shami 2-19, Saha 67* ensure Top Two finish for Gujarat

TATA IPL 2022 Points Table

TATA IPL 2022 Points Table: RR beat CSK and move to 2nd place in table

What’s to Come

Delhi Capitals will take on Mumbai Indians on May 21 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. If the former win this game then they will qualify for the playoffs and if they lose then Royal Challengers Bangalore will make the cut.

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