Yashasvi Jaiswal (50 off 21 balls; 6x4, 3x6) and
Shivam Dube
(64 not out; 4x4, 4x6) hammered half-centuries to guide
Rajasthan Royals to an emphatic seven-wicket win while chasing a tall 190 against
Chennai Super Kings in Abu Dhabi on Saturday night.
Their clinical, pulsating performance in a high-pressure chase not only spiced up the playoff race but also laid to waste the efforts of
CSK
opener
Ruturaj Gaikwad, who scored a flamboyant maiden century for the table toppers.
AS IT HAPPENED | SCORECARD | POINTS TABLERajasthan needed a win to stay alive in the playoffs race, and the incredible batting efforts of Jaiswal and
Dube
ensured the men in pink will live to fight another day.
Few would have guessed that Rajasthan would have chased down the total with such ease, with 15 balls to spare, when CSK posted 189-4.
It was Jaiswal who gave Rajasthan a head start and the belief with a flamboyant half-century. After his departure, his Mumbai teammate Dube made it a point to hang in till the end and guide the team home.
Royals skipper
Sanju Samson's decision to field first seemed vindicated in the end but Ruturaj and then
Ravindra Jadeja lower down the order (32 off 15; 4x4, 1x6) would have given him some nervous moments as they toyed with the bowling on a Abu Dhabi pitch amenable to strokeplay.
A royal upset
There were some nail-biting moments for CSK fans towards the end as Gaikwad appeared to be running out of balls to get to his hundred, but he managed to seal the issue with a spectacular last-ball six.
Gaikwad
, who now has the Orange Cap, scored his second fifty off only 17 balls.
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