It’s the week of the veterans in the IPL 2018 as a day after Chris Gayle, Shane Watson touched the three-figure mark. Chennai Super Kings, at their newly designated home venue of the MCA Stadium, Pune, steamrolled Rajasthan Royals in the 17th match of the season to attain their 3rd win.
RR opted to bowl first after winning the toss and Shane Watson made sure it was a howler from Ajinkya Rahane and his men. Right from the first over, he was after the bowlers and got plenty of help from the fielders who dropped him a couple of times pretty early on. The Australian realized it was his day and CSK’s score raced off to 50 in the 5th over.
Ambati Rayudu fell for 12 but Suresh Raina proved to be the perfect partner for Watson as the duo took the RR bowlers to the cleaners. It was raining boundaries in Pune and the capacity crowd got their money’s worth. The duo added 81 runs before Raina was dismissed for 46 in the 12th over.
MS Dhoni and Sam Billings too fell cheaply but Watson was unflustered and carried on to notch up a magnificent century. He got out in the penultimate over of the innings after scoring 106 off just 57 balls that included 9 fours and 6 sixes. Some late flourish from Dwayne Bravo helped CSK achieve a massive 204/5 after 20 overs.
The visitors were never in the hunt in their chase and lost wickets at regular intervals. They were rocked back early as 3 wickets fell inside the powerplay. Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler stayed together for a while and constructed a stand of 45 runs for the 4th wicket but once they got out, there was no looking back for CSK. The hosts bowled the opposition out for 140 in the 19th over to bag a win by 64 runs.
Match Summary
Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bowl first
Chennai Super Kings: 204/5 in 20 overs
Shane Watson 106 (57), Suresh Raina 46 (29)
Shreyas Gopal 20/3 (4), Ben Laughlin 38/2 (4)
Rajasthan Royals: 140/10 in 18.3 overs
Ben Stokes 45 (37), Jos Buttler 22 (17)
Karn Sharma 13/2 (1.3), Dwayne Bravo 18/2 (3)
Chennai Super Kings won by 64 runs
Player of the Match: Shane Watson
Here’s how Twitteratis fell for the elegance of Shane Watson
So @ShaneRWatson33 scores a century against #RajasthanRoyals having scored one for them against #CSK!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 20, 2018
A new wind is blowing in week 2. Bat first, put up a good score and suck the life out of the run-chase…….
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/JasonRoy20/status/987359611866025986
Watto family orey the happy! #WhistlePodu #Yellove #CSKvRR 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/WJstS0jwJ9
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/IrfanPathan/status/987357307284602880
https://twitter.com/isaguha/status/987360124154073088
https://twitter.com/pragyanojha/status/987361805809971201
100 Off 51 Balls. Shane Watson Has Scored One Century Playing For Rajasthan Royals Against Chennai Super Kings, Today He Did The Opposite. Revenge Of Not Retaining Him. #CSKvRR #CSKvsRR #WhistlePodu
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) April 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/sthalekar93/status/987358756022337536
https://twitter.com/sthalekar93/status/987351336587939840
Watto player.. Watttto Playaaaah .. Brute force ! @ShaneRWatson33 RR in early trouble #CSKVsRR
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) April 20, 2018
https://twitter.com/mohanstatsman/status/987358788217856000
#CSKvRR
Yesterday, Chris Gayle. Today, Shane Watson.
Two excellent centuries by RCB alumni.— Ramesh Srivats (@rameshsrivats) April 20, 2018
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