Shane Watson drafted himself into the playing XI, after making a comeback from an injury, and stamped his mark with a glorious innings, which propelled the Rajasthan Royals to their fifth successive win in the Indian Premier League.
The Royals stopped the winning juggernaut of the Chennai Super Kings by handing a thumping 8-wicket defeat to them in Ahmedabad, as they cruised to win with 10 balls to spare.
Ajinkya Rahane, meanwhile, also made a half-century and stitched a crucial opening wicket partnership to take the game away from the Super Kings in the first-half of the innings.
“It’s nice to be back with Royals,” Watson said. “Chennai is a great team, so it was a good win against them.The pitch was a little bit slow and little bit dry, but we summed up the conditions pretty quickly and the bowlers bowled well to give ourselves the best chance.”
“Chris Morris bowled very well. Dwayne Bravo played a brilliant innings,” he added. “But I am very proud of the way we played today. We are getting better every year. The people we have brought in this year complement the team and we continue to learn.”
Nothing went Chennai’s way, as the chances fell just short on a number of occasions, while Rahane and Watson rode on their lucks to make a 144-run partnership.
Earlier, the Super Kings were off to a wobbly start, after electing to bat first on what looked like a flat deck. But, MS Dhoni’s decision backfired when they lost Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis inside 40 runs.
Dwayne Smith, meanwhile, played a scorching innings but he failed to convert this start into a big innings. But, Bravo and Dhoni made an unbeaten 91-run partnership for the fifth wicket, taking Chennai to 156.
Bravo played a mesmerising fifty and remained unbeaten at the end but Dhoni, on the other end, looked completely out of sorts and played a scratchy innings.
Be it spinners or pacers, the CSK skipper failed to connect the ball, despite taking charge on a number of occasions. In the end, owing of lack of big hits, Chennai remained at least 20-30 runs shorts of what could be a par total.
