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Rana and Hasaranga led the Royals to their first win with a close victory
IPL 2025: Rajasthan Royals won their first match in IPL 2025 season after beating Chennai Super Kings by six runs
Wanindu Hasaranga starred with the ball, finishing with figures of 4/35, while Nitish Rana scored 81 runs off 36 balls in the first innings for the Royals.
Rajasthan Royals secure an easy six-run victory over Chennai Super Kings and get their first win of IPL 2025. Nitish Rana was the star for the Royals, scoring a strong 81 runs, while Wanindu Hasaranga played a key role in defending the total with important wickets throughout the match.
Rana’s aggressive batting during the powerplay helped the Royals set a score that was above what they expected. Although CSK managed to slow things down towards the end of their innings, RR kept control during the chase, thanks to consistent wickets taken by Hasaranga, preventing CSK from building any momentum.
Rana came in to bat early in the first over after Yashasvi Jaiswal was caught out easily. What started well for Khaleel Ahmed and CSK, who chose to bowl first, quickly turned around. Rana hit a boundary on his second ball to get started. Jamie Overton, making his IPL debut, was hit for 14 runs in his first over and 16 in his next, as CSK struggled to find their rhythm. To mix things up, R Ashwin was brought in, but Rana skillfully used the sweep shot and RR scored 19 runs in that over. Khaleel made another mistake with his length in his third over, allowing Rana to take full advantage on a pitch that wasn’t helping the bowlers much. Out of RR's 79 runs in the powerplay, Rana scored 58 on his own.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) managed to set a challenging total of over 180 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), largely thanks to Nitish Rana's explosive innings of 81 off 36 balls. Rana took the attack to Ravichandran Ashwin and built a strong base before falling to a wide delivery that led to his stumping. RR's middle and lower-order batters, including Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer, contributed with occasional boundaries but struggled to maintain the required scoring rate. RR's bowlers, especially Jofra Archer, made use of the Guwahati pitch, which began assisting pacers, to trouble the CSK top-order early on.
CSK's chase started slowly, with only 5 runs on the board after the first three overs. However, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rahul Tripathi found ways to recover by targeting gaps and using the pace of the ball to score boundaries. CSK regained momentum in the latter half of the powerplay, setting the stage for a competitive chase.
RR's Wanindu Hasaranga proved to be a game-changer during the middle overs, taking a crucial four-wicket haul, including dismissals of Tripathi and Shivam Dube, who briefly threatened to shift the match in CSK's favor. Despite Hasaranga's strikes, Gaikwad fought valiantly, bringing up his fifty and keeping CSK in contention. Vijay Shankar and others attempted to support Gaikwad but fell to RR's disciplined bowling. Gaikwad's dismissal, as Hasaranga's fourth victim, left CSK needing Jadeja and Dhoni to deliver in the final overs.
In a tense finish, Jadeja and Dhoni struck crucial sixes to bring CSK closer to the target, but Sandeep Sharma held his nerve in the last over, ensuring RR's victory by 6 runs. Hasaranga's 4-35 performance and RR's collective bowling effort played a significant role in defending their total and securing the win.
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