IPL 2019, RR vs CSK: The worst captaincy move of the day

After back to back victories at home, Chennai Super Kings took on Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur. Royals were languishing in the bottom half of the table and were hoping for a spirit-lifting win against the table toppers.

MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bowl first considering the hard surface and dew factor. CSK brought in Mitchell Santner for Harbhajan Singh while Riyan Parag made his debut for Rajasthan Royals.

Rajasthan Royals began their innings in a very positive manner before losing Rahane and Butler in back to back overs. Steve Smith and Rahul Tripathi slowly started rebuilding but Kedar Jadhav’s one-handed effort in the field resulted in the downfall of Tripathi in the 9th over. Not long after that, Smith lost his composure and gifted away his wicket by giving a simple catch to the fielder at deep midwicket.

The debutant Riyan Parag and Ben Stokes rotated the strike well but Thakur struck in the 15th over to send Parag back to the dressing room. Stokes failed to convert his start into a big score but a late cameo from Gopal propelled Rajasthan Royals to a respectable total of 151.

CSK began their chance in a dismal manner as Watson was cleaned up by an absolute ripper from Kulkarni in the first over. Raina’s lethargic running resulted in his downfall while Du Plessis and Jadhav were victims of some outstanding fielding from the hosts. Just when Rayudu and Dhoni were steadying the sinking ship, Rahane made a huge captaincy error in the 11th over of the game which tilted the momentum in favor of CSK.

In spite of having 10 overs of fast bowling at his disposal, he continued with Parag and CSK made full use of it as 14 runs came off that over. The fact that the spinners got very little purchase from this wicket makes Rahane’s decision even more questionable. In the end, a last-ball six sealed a four-wicket victory for CSK as they cemented their position at the top of the table.

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