NEW DELHI, India (AP) — Rajasthan Royals finished its Indian Premier League season with a six-wicket victory against Chennai Super Kings after finally chasing down the target in its last league game on Tuesday.
Rajasthan, which failed to complete the chase in eight of its nine games this season, relied on Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s half century to reach 188-4 with 17 balls to spare.
Fast bowler Akash Madhwal (3-29) was effective with his reverse swing in the final overs to restrict Chennai to 187-8 and allow Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s team to add only 17 runs in the last three overs.
The win lifted Rajasthan from the bottom of the table with eight points and Chennai now needs a huge win against table-topper Gujarat Titans in its final league match to avoid finishing last for the first time in its IPL history.
Yashasvi Jaiswal smacked five boundaries and two sixes in his brisk 36 off 19 balls as Suryavanshi was initially a mere spectator at the other end in the run-chase.
But Suryavanshi took the charge once Jaiswal was bowled by Anshul Kamboj in the fourth over as he smashed Noor Ahmad for 6-4-4 in his first over and also hit sixes against Ravindra Jadeja’s left-arm spin.
Together with captain Sanju Samson, Suryavanshi added a match-winning 98-run stand before Ashwin struck twice in the 14th over and dismissed both batters.
Ahmad clean bowled Riyan Parag for three, but Dhurv Jurel hit an unbeaten 31 off 12 balls, including three sixes and two fours, and Shimron Hetmyer made 12 not out to ensure Rajasthan reached the target with nearly three overs to spare.
Chennai restricted
Yudhvir Singh picked up three early wickets, including the key wicket of Devon Conway off his fourth ball when the left-handed New Zealander was caught at mid-off as Chennai slipped to 78-5 in the eighth over.
Ayush Mhatre (43) played risk-free shots and hit eight boundaries as he combined in a 56-run run stand with Ravichandran Ashwin (13). Dewald Brevis smashed three sixes and two fours in his quickfire 42 off 25 balls and together with Shivam Dube added a further 59 runs for the sixth wicket. But Madhwal clean bowled Brevis with a delivery that tailed back into the batter and knocked back the stumps in the 14th over.
Dube dominated the spinners and kept Chennai in the hunt for a 200-run total up until the 17th over. But Madhwal and Tushar Deshpande hit the right lengths in the last three overs as Madhwal claimed the wickets of Dube and Dhoni in the last over.
Change in venues
The adverse weather in South India forced IPL organizers to shift Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s final home game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday to Lucknow.
It meant Bengaluru, which has already qualified for the playoffs, will also be playing its final league game against Lucknow Super Giants on May 27 at Ekna Stadium.
Last Saturday, Bengaluru’s previous home game against Kolkata Knight Riders was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
New Chandigarh and Ahmedabad will host the playoffs instead of Hyderabad and Kolkata. New Chandigarh will host the first qualifier on May 29 and the eliminator on May 30. Ahmedabad will stage the second qualifier on June 1 and the final on June 3.
Bengaluru, Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings have already qualified for the playoffs with Mumbai Indians and Delhi Capitals fighting for the fourth spot.
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