At the halfway mark in the Rajasthan Royals\u2019 innings, things seemed to be going to plan. Eighty four runs on the board, nine wickets in hand and a great platform after the openers had given a flying start, says a report in The Indian Express, adding that Royals\u2019 skipper, Shane Watson, had given himself a promotion up the order, opting to open the innings. In the company of Ankit Sharma, the all-rounder debuting for his franchise, the skipper and his sidekick took the Chennai Super Kings bowling apart.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoundaries came thick and fast and as Watson thumped Vijay Shankar\u2019s gentle offering, the last ball of the ninth over, into the deep midwicket stands, it looked as if the Royals were on course for a huge target. However, at the end of the 20 overs, the scoreboard read 148 for eight. The Royals managed just 64 more runs in 60 balls, losing seven wickets in the process. This disaster was best explained by Steven Smith\u2019s erratic eight-ball stay at the wicket,\u201d adds the report.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Australian, who had calmly led the Royals to victory chasing a stiff target in Bangalore, seemed to be in the mood to show off his repertoire of shots. He tried a lap sweep, two reverse sweeps and a ramp-cum-scoop shot. All these acrobatics gave him just five runs. He perished trying a similar improvised stroke and the three other batsmen followed him soon after,\u201d says the report.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the DNA writes that it has become a regular sight to see Mahendra Singh Dhoni stay in the end to see Chennai Super Kings cross the victory line. \u201cTuesday was no different. Pursuing a target of 149 following a batting collapse by Rajasthan Royals, Dhoni, on his home ground in Ranchi, stayed unbeaten on 26 as CSK won by five wickets with two deliveries to spare. Dhoni experimented by sending R Ashwin higher up the order but the No. 6 batsman was bowled by Rajat Bhatia, forcing the Indian captain to go out and finish the job,\u201d says the report.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter their bowlers hastened a Rajasthan Royals batting collapse, Chennai Super Kings, though lost initial wickets, did not look in trouble at all. Not till they had Dhoni waiting in the dug out to have a go at the opposition bowlers. Brendon McCullum, who has picked up some bad form in the last three innings including Tuesday’s, fell for six but his West Indian opening partner Dwayne Smith continued in the same vein as he has been this league,\u201d says the report, adding Smith, who is closing in on Orange Cup holder Glenn Maxwell, is only 34 shy of the Australian after scoring 44 in 35 deliveries.<\/p>\n
\u201cRajasthan Royals bowlers tried hard but CSK batsmen would not budge. Though CSK lost wickets and the end became exciting with 12 needed off the last over, Dhoni had his plans well in place. Faf du Plessis was the other CSK batsman who came good with the bat and reduced Dhoni’s burden,\u201d says the report.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Calcutta Telegraph writes that victory is where home is, adding that Captain Chase M.S. Dhoni \u2014 a sobriquet the Ranchi lad deserves for his stunning ability to pursue targets easy and tough \u2014 found the Dhurwa greens to be his lucky charm once again as his last over six led Chennai Super Kings to a five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
This is Dhoni\u2019s fifth success in a row on home turf. His team won three Champions League matches played at the JSCA International Cricket Stadium in September 2013 and the last IPL-7 tie against Kolkata Knight Riders on May 2.<\/p>\n
\u201cI give all credit to JSCA for preparing such a world-class pitch,\u201d he said in an interview after the match.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At the halfway mark in the Rajasthan Royals\u2019 innings, things seemed to be going to plan. Eighty four runs on the board, nine wickets in hand and a great platform after the openers had given a flying start, says a report in The Indian Express, adding that Royals\u2019 skipper, Shane Watson, had given himself a promotion up the order, opting to open the innings. In the company of Ankit Sharma, the all-rounder debuting for his franchise, the skipper and his sidekick took the Chennai Super Kings bowling apart.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoundaries came thick and fast and as Watson thumped Vijay Shankar\u2019s gentle offering, the last ball of the ninth over, into the deep midwicket stands, it looked as if the Royals were on course for a huge target. However, at the end of the 20 overs, the scoreboard read 148 for eight. The Royals managed just 64 more runs in 60 balls, losing seven wickets in the process. This disaster was best explained by Steven Smith\u2019s erratic eight-ball stay at the wicket,\u201d adds the report.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Australian, who had calmly led the Royals to victory chasing a stiff target in Bangalore, seemed to be in the mood to show off his repertoire of shots. He tried a lap sweep, two reverse sweeps and a ramp-cum-scoop shot. All these acrobatics gave him just five runs. He perished trying a similar improvised stroke and the three other batsmen followed him soon after,\u201d says the report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-from-the-newspapers"],"yoast_head":"\n