At the mid-innings break, Michael Hussey had thought the 141-run total
put up by Chennai Super Kings was competitive because the pitch was
aiding seam bowling, but he was wary of the "Watson factor". In the end,
it was Shane Watson who turned out to be the difference with a 34-ball
70, as Rajasthan Royals registered their eighth win in Jaipur - a
cleansheet - and rose to No. 2 in the points table, behind the Super
Kings only on net run rate.
Royals had been left scarred by 10 overs of menacing bowling by the
Super Kings' seamers and were left looking at a mountain to climb. With
93 required off the last 10, and Rahul Dravid already back in the
dugout, a way back looked difficult. Then Dhoni introduced R Ashwin in
the 11th, and the match turned on its head. The third ball of the over
was slog-swept by Stuart Binny and it just cleared Ravindra Jadeja at
deep midwicket, but it was the fifth and the sixth deliveries that
signalled the start of the onslaught. Watson swept both comfortably over
the midwicket boundary, making it 23 runs of that over, Ashwin's most
expensive in all IPL. It was the first over of spin in the game.
It seemed like a switch had been flicked on, and Dhoni's immediate
reaction to go back to his seamers in the next over didn't really make a
difference to the batsmen. Binny cut and flicked Morris for a couple of
boundaries, and then Watson took over. He first drove the impressive
Jason Holder for a six over long-off, then bludgeoned two of Dwayne
Bravo's next over. The switch in gears left everyone gobsmacked. Morris
lost his line in the next over and was duly hit for four boundaries in
all directions, the first of which brought Watson's half-century, off
just 25 balls. Royals scored 81 between overs 11 and 15. By the time
Watson was dismissed, the job had been done. Binny finished the chase
with six over long-off to remain unbeaten on 41.
The start of the innings had been nothing like the finish. Royals were
peppered with pace and bounce from the Super Kings fast bowlers and they
struggled as MS Dhoni maintained pressure with slip fielders. It was
only Dravid who seemed adept enough to handle the bowling, similar to
how Michael Hussey had steered the first innings for Super Kings, but
even he edged a lot.
Royals, who had won five straight matches chasing, had asked Super Kings
to bat on a spicy pitch and Hussey and Vijay played the initial period
watchfully to thwart the bowlers, then raised the 11th half-century
stand between them to set up a strong base for the hitters to follow.
But Kevon Cooper struck twice to remove Suresh Raina and Dhoni,
derailing the Super Kings' innings and the pitch was too hot to handle
for the rest. Had it not been for a brief cameo by Bravo, Super Kings
would not have had a competitive total. In the end, however, Royals won
with 17 balls to spare.
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