Rajasthan ousted the former Champions League winner Chennai Super Kings in the first semi final of the tournament when they beat them by 14 runs at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur. The victory was set up by a resolute innings from Indian youngster Ajinkya Rahane with the bat and Pravin Tambe with the ball.
Royals posted a competitive total of 159 for the loss of 8 wickets after Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and opted to field first. Rahane made full use of the home condition scoring a valuable 70 from just 56 balls. Shane Watson played a good supporting roll as the CSK bowlers restricted the home team from imposing a huge total. Bravo was the pick of the bowlers as he picked up 3 crucial wickets including that of Rahane.
CSK had a poor start to their innings as their most consistent performer Mike Hussey got run out after a terrible mix-up with Murali Vijay. Vijay followed his opening partner as he suffered the same fate when Kevon Cooper hit the stumps directly. Raina came on and began in a blistering fashion as he clobbered away Cooper for two consecutive boundaries. Just when it looked like that CSK was running away with the match came the man with the golden arm. Pravin Tambe picked up 3 crucial wickets that of Raina, Badrinath and Bravo in quick succession to reduce the men in yellow to 72/7. Ravichandran Ashwin made a valiant effort to make a comeback into the match but could not get his over the line as Royals maintained their winning performance in front of the home crowd.
The Royals are now up against the winner of the 2nd semifinal scheduled to be held on Saturday between Mumbai Indians and Trinidad and Tobago. With such kind of dominating performance Royals will surely fancy their chances, irrespective of their opponents in the final.
Tags: Ajinkya Rahane Champions League Chennai Super Kings CL T20 Mike hussey MS Dhoni Murali Vijay Pravin Tambe Rajasthan Royals Shane Watson
