Royals fall flat after Watson century
The Australia allrounder sizzled against his former team to score his fourth T20 century as Super Kings reigned supreme at their adopted home ground
The Australia allrounder sizzled against his former team to score his fourth T20 century as Super Kings reigned supreme at their adopted home ground
Commentator: Sreshth Shah
11.55pm That's all from us tonight. CSK move to the top of the IPL points table after their domination of Rajasthan Royals tonight. Match report and other reactions on our home page soon. Till then, it's goodnight from all of us at ESPNcricinfo. We'll see you tomorrow for double-header Saturday. On behalf of the crew, this is Sreshth Shah, signing off.
11.30pm A terrific all-round performance from Chennai Super Kings, playing at their new home. Shane Watson's hundred set the CSK innings up, after which the Indian bowlers - Chahar and Thakur - made life difficult for Rajasthan Royals. Time for the presentation.
Shane Watson, the Man of the Match: "There's no doubt I had some extra motivation, playing against Rajasthan. Incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to play for CSK, so happy to repay the faith. (on the dropped catch), I'm not sure. It's just how it goes sometimes, but the other little things fell my way tonight. I'm always looking to get better, when it's time you're not learning, it's time to stop, so I'm still trying to improve certain aspects of my playing. MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming know really well how to set a team dynamic, and seeing the inner workings of the team is great."
Dhoni, the winning captain: "It's like an unknown territory for us. We're usually behind, but this time we're ahead. Most of us are over 30, so it's important to stay fit. Experience really counts, and we do have good fielders. Just need people to stay fit. The change of venue, to be frank, the people over here, they supported me when I played for Pune, so you could say that it was good that I could return the favour. Yes, it's Chennai Super Kings and not Pune Super Kings, but by the end of the seventh game, we'll see more yellow here. As for the pitch, I wasn't 100% sure. There was variable bounce, spongy bounce, and hitting from back of a length is difficult sometimes. The batsmen made the life for the bowlers easy. Whenever you score 200+, the spinners still had to vary their pace, line and length to stay in the game. The first six overs of the chase were important. Today also there was a bit of dew later on, and if the wicket is good not many teams will mind batting first."
Ajinkya Rahane, the losing captain: "Credit goes to CSK. The way they played, especially Watson. We dropped a catch, but the way he batted was incredible. Poor fielding hurts, but players are working hard on fielding. Need to learn from this and move forward. I felt we bowled slightly on the poor side. They bowled straighter, and those lines and lengths were difficult to hit. CSK were just too good tonight. It's important to believe in our ability for the next game, and just go out there and be positive. Watson was positive from ball one, and T20 cricket is just about that."
Shardul: "It takes years to get the slower-ball right, and when I got the rhythm, I just wanted to stay level-headed. The secret is we have played three high-scoring games. Those games were nail-biting, and so we were calm and composed tonight. I've practiced hard, and felt good to execute those plans in the middle."
Ranjithkuzi: "CSK moves to the top of the table with this wonderful game.. "
Bhalaji: "Karn kept bhajji out of MI last season and has replaced him this match....will the trend continue?"
Pratik Bhatia: "I think RR were beaten in all 3 departments....and they missed the trick with the opening pair, Stokes or Tripathi would have been a better bet than Klassen. But nothing can be taken away from Watson! It was his day today! Probably this knock will make him a different player and CSK a different team!"
B Laughlin c †Dhoni b Sharma 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
JD Unadkat b Sharma 16 (10b 3x4 0x6) SR: 160.00
Shameel Raja: "When most of the players in csk can bowl and bat, why do we call selective players as Allrounders?" -- Got to ask yourself whether the player can make the team on just one of those skills. Not all these players fit the bill
Soham Basak: "This may sound needlessly critical, but Watto really didn't need to bowl tonight. After his innings, he could have been rested. As Dhoni himself said, workload management is important for this team considering the average age."
The allrounder from Australia doesn't have the spectacle or cult-hero status of a Gayle or Dhoni. But he can more than match their exploits with bat in hand
Chennai Super Kings, meanwhile, found a solo hero for the third time in four matches
The Australia allrounder sizzled against his former team to score his fourth T20 century as Super Kings reigned supreme at their adopted home ground
After a poor 2017, Watson has done well to raise his game and show he's still got it
Both MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina, who are recovering from injuries, trained on the eve of the match against Rajasthan Royals and could be fit to play on Friday