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Bravo shines in death over
With 12 required from the final 6 deliveries, Dwayne Bravo conceded just three and picked up two more wickets and stunned Royals in the run chase. The Jamaican brought CSK back in the hunt after picking up the key wicket of Ben Stokes and turned the tides in their favour.
Shardul Thakur (42-2), Ravindra Jadeja (23 from 2 overs), Mitchell Santner (26 from 2 overs) went for runs but a calm and composed Dhoni rotated rest of his bowlers brilliantly who kept picking up wickets at regular intervals to keep themselves in the hunt.
Chahar gives Royals early blows
Having posted a competitive total of 175/5 in the 20 overs, Chennai were off to a flyer with the ball when pacers their pacers Chahar and Thakur gave Royals early blows in the powerplay.
Chahar got rid of Ajinkya Rahane (0) by getting the Royals' skipper caught at point by Jadeja in the first over itself. He then got rid of Sanju Samson - the centurion of the previous game - for 8 as Suresh Raina took a brilliant catch at point. Dhoni made the fielding changes on the previous delivery and it paid off.
Thakur then removed dangerman Jos Buttler (6) on the very next delivery and Chennai were right on top in the powerplay when the scoreboard read 14/3.
Tahir still putting batsmen in a spin
Imran Tahir (23-2) and Deepak Chahar (19-2) bowled well under tough bowling conditions as dew made it difficult to grip the white ball.
But it was the Pakistan-born South Africa spinner who turned the tables for the Super Kings in the middle overs.
Rahul Tripathi and Steve Smith revived their innings and the partnership of 61 runs kept them on course in the run chase.
Tripathi (39) and Smith (28) were removed by Tahir in a gap of 19 runs and the match once shifted towards Chennai's favour. Tahir now joined teammate Bravo and Yuzvendra Chahal at the top of the tournament's wicket-taking charts.
When Ben Stokes (46) and Jofra Archer stitched a partnership of 44 runs between them, the game once again switched sides. But despite playing good cricket, Royals showed they lacked the experience of finishing the game and that's what cost them yet again as CSK came out victorious by 8 runs.
Dhoni-Raina steer CSK ship through troubled waters
Earlier, Chennai too were off to a disastrous start when they lost their top three Ambati Rayudu (1), Shane Watson (13) and Kedar Jadhav (8) within 5 overs and there were only 27 runs on the board.
Captain Dhoni and his deputy Raina - playing his 150th game for CSK - recovered from the early losses and kept the scoreboard ticking till the 10th over. The duo hardly took any risks. When Raina was dismissed for 36 off Unadkat while trying to up the ante in the 14th over CSK were still 12 short of 100.
Dhoni demolishes RR bowlers in the death overs
In the last 6 overs, Dhoni along with Bravo (27 off 16) started adding runs quickly. In the last 36 balls, CSK amassed nearly 95 runs and took the momentum in their favour.
Dhoni once again unleashed himself in the final two overs. He hammered Unadkat for 3 consecutive maximums in the final over to remain unbeaten on 46-ball 75 and take his team to a respectable total. 60 runs came for the hosts in the final 3 overs.
Defeat harsh on Archer
Rajasthan's defeat was particularly harsh on Archer, who returned 2-17 in a superb bowling performance before helping to keep the game alive with the bat. Archer even kept things tight at the end of Chennai's innings with Dhoni in full flow, giving up just eight runs in the 19th over.
Unfortunately for the Royals, the 18th and 20th overs - bowled by Dhawal Kulkarni and Jaydev Unadkat - went for 24 and 28 respectively, Dhoni hitting the last three legal deliveries for six.
Unadkat finished with horrendous figures of 1-54 from four overs, having also bowled two wides at the death.
The 37-year-old once again showed there's no one better than him when it comes to taking the match in the death overs and finishing it off in style.
With this win, Chennai have climbed at the top of the table and Royals are languishing amongst the bottom two.
