(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) All-rounder stars in chennai super kings thrilling seven-run win over rajasthan
ravindra jadeja celebrates the dismissal of rajasthan royals’s smith with suresh raina during the pepsi ipl 2014 match in dubai. — kt photo by rahul gajjar
ravindra jadeja has the knack of producing stunning turnarounds when the chips are down for his team. the capacity crowd at the dubai international stadium on wednesday night witnessed such a spectacular ‘jaddu’ performance when the 25-year old all-rounder played a stellar role in chennai super kings’ thrilling seven-run victory over rajasthan royals in a pepsi ipl 2014 game here.
jadeja after hitting an unbeaten 36 to guide his team to a respectable total celebrated in style after picking up four wickets to star in the two-time champions’ second consecutive victory in season seven.
the spinner brought chennai who could manage only 140 for six after sent into bat first right back into the game when he picked up the crucial wickets of shane watson and sanju samson in consecutive deliveries from his first over itself.
watson who hit jadeja for a straight six in the third ball of seventh over fell the very next ball when the australian all-rounder attempted another one over long-off where ben hilfenhaus took a good catch. jadeja struck again in the next delivery sending back the dangerous sanju samson who hit two sixes in his 16. jadeja hit back again in the 13th over dismissing steven smith who chipped in with a 20-ball 19. jadeja completed his four-wicket haul when he clean bowled tim southee in the 15th over. though jadeja’s last over went for 15 runs he finished with figures of four for 33 from his four overs.
chasing 141 for victory rr were bowled out for 133 in 19.5 overs. dhawal kulkarani who was the top scorer with a 19-ball 28 gave a bit of scare to chennai in the last over when he smashed ashwin for two sixes but dhoni’s team kept their cool to emerge winners.
rajat bhatia hit one four and one six to make 23 off 20 balls.
chennai had a lucky break when abhishek nayar fell via a run out in the second over itself. opener ajinkya rahane added 27 runs for the second wicket with samson before the opener fell while attempting a slog sweep against ravichandran ashwin in the sixth over.
earlier a superb half-century from opener dwayne smith and a fighting unbeaten 36 from jadeja helped chennai post a modest total of 140 for six in their allotted 20 overs. though smith gave an excellent start to chennai rajasthan bounced back into the match after the west indian batsman’s dismissal. he added 35 runs for the first wicket with brendon mccullum who found it difficult to time the ball during his unpleasant stay at the crease.
the new zealand captain’s struggle ended when steven smith took a stunning catch in james faulkner’s second over. smith however ensured that chennai finished the same over on a high by hitting the australian all-rounder for four consecutive boundaries scoring 19 runs. the sixth over helped chennai who were struggling till then finish the power play stronger at 51 for one.
smith who smashed a 28-ball 50 with six boundaries and three sixes had to depart in the very next over when he mistimed a stuart binny delivery to shane watson at mid-off. he had reached the half-century a ball ago hitting binny for a flat six.
smith’s dismissal turned the tables in favour of rajasthan and they picked up wickets at regular intervals to restrict the two-time champions.
bhatia gave a big breakthrough in the ninth over when the 34-year old all-rounder sent back the dangerous suresh raina for nine.
faf du plessis who made a nine-ball seven during his short stay at the crease was run out in 11th over giving rr an upper hand in the game.
chennai suffered a big setback the very next over when their skipper ms dhoni departed hitting a pravin tambe-delivery to faulkner at deep square leg.
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