Butler’s half-century, Royals set Super Kings a target of 176 runs
Opener Jos Buttler’s half-century helped Rajasthan Royals score 175 for eight against Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday. Butler (52 runs in 36 balls, one four, three sixes) apart from scoring a half-century, shared a 77-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal (38) for the second wicket and a 47-run partnership with Ravichandran Ashwin (30) for the fourth wicket. Shimron Hetmyer (30 not out in 18 balls, two sixes, two fours) played a key role in taking the team’s score beyond 170 runs by playing a fiery innings in the last over.
Ravindra Jadeja bowled economically for the Superkings, taking two wickets for 21 runs in four overs. Pacers Tushar Deshpande (2/37) and Akash Singh (2/40) also claimed two wickets each. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captaining the Superkings in the 200th match, won the toss and decided to bowl first and Tushar Deshpande caught the in-form Yashasvi Jaiswal (10) at mid-off by Shivam Dubey in the second over of the innings. . Royals sent Padikkal up the order and he looked in great touch right from the start.
He started off with two consecutive fours off Mahesh Teekshana while Butler also hit a six and a four in the off-spinner’s next over. Padikkal hit Deshpande for two consecutive fours as the team scored 57 for one in the power play. Buttler welcomed Moeen Ali with two consecutive sixes but Jadeja had Padikkal caught by Devon Conway at deep backward square leg in the next over. Padikkal hit five fours in 26 balls. Jadeja bowled Royals skipper Sanju Samson (00) a ball later while Ashwin was lucky the next ball when Moeen dropped a simple catch in the slips. After Jadeja’s two wickets, the Super Kings bowlers curbed the run rate. The century of Royals’ runs was completed in the 12th over.
After a slow start, Ashwin hit Akash for two consecutive sixes but was caught by Sisanda Magala in the same over. He faced one four and two sixes in 22 balls. Butler completed his half-century in 33 balls with two runs on Tekshana but was bowled by Moeen in the next over. He hit one four and three sixes in his 36-ball innings. However, he could not hit any boundary for more than eight overs before getting out. Hetmyer took the team’s score past 150 runs in the 18th over with a six over Deshpande. Hetmyer also hit Akash for a six but Dhruv Jurel (04) handed the catch to Dubey. Deshpande sent Jason Holder (00) to the pavilion in the last over.
