Shivam Dube’s Half-Century Goes In Vain As Rajasthan Royals Beat Chennai Super Kings By 32 Runs

The Rajasthan Royals defeated Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, securing their second win of the IPL 2023 season against the four-time champions.

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal attacking fifty (77 off 43) propelled Rajasthan Royals to 202/5 in 20 overs. Apart from Jaiswal, the likes of Dhruv Jurel (34 off 15), Jos Buttler (27 off 21), and Devdutt Padikkal (24 off 12) contributed to the Royals’ big score on a batting-friendly pitch.

Jaiswal took on the responsibility of scoring big runs in the powerplay, propelling Rajasthan Royals to 62 for 0 at the end of 6 overs. His face-off against former U19 teammate Akash Singh was a delight to watch, as he played around with the field and picked up the lengths from the left-arm pacer quite early.

Ajinkya Rahane was dismissed for a mere 15 runs off 13 balls, leaving the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a precarious position. The team was left hoping for a miraculous partnership between Ravindra Jadeja and Shivam Dube to turn the game around.

Dube kept the CSK fans on the edge of their seats until the halfway point of the 19th over, where it became mathematically impossible for them to chase down the target. Unfortunately, Dube was dismissed off the last ball of the match, having scored a valiant 52 runs off 33 balls. CSK’s innings ended on 170/6, and the Rajasthan Royals emerged victorious by a margin of 32 runs.