Chennai Super Kings looked completely in control of the proceedings the moment they took the field in the second innings. With exactly a run lesser than the average first innings T20 score at the Dubai International cricket stadium, it always looked liked they had plenty to defend. In their encounter against Rajasthan, Chennai won by 7 runs.
In response to Chennai Super Kings 140, Rajasthan Royals started the way they would have least wanted. Their opener Abhishek Nayar went for the suicidal run in the second over. Samson walked in and together with Rahane, took RR to 37/1 in 5 overs. Soon after Rahane fell in the 6th over for 15 to an Ashwin delivery, RR encountered a double blow in the next over, with Watson (7) and Samson (16) falling to Jadeja.
Steven Smith and Stuart Binny joined hands and steered the team to 56/4 in 10 overs, but Binny fell for 8 to Mohit Sharma, bringing Bhatia to the crease. Smith (19), Faulkner (4) and Southee (4) fell in successive overs, with RR in tatters at 87/8 at the end of 15 overs. With Bhatia and Tambe being the final two nails in the RR coffin in the 19th and 20th over respectively, RR had a timid loss.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals won the toss and asked Chennai Super Kings to bat first. Opening the innings for CSK were Dwayne Smith and McCullum. The dup took the side to 32/0 in five overs, but McCullum soon became the first casualty, when Faulkner drew first blood, dismissing McCullum for 6. However, that didn’t stop Smith from smashing four boundaries in the same over, as Raina walked into to join the party. Soon after, the party ended abruptly when Smith departed just after bringing up his half century. He was claimed by Stuart Binny for 50 in the 8th over. Bhatia soon showed the door to Suresh Raina, who walked back without contributing much. Faf du Plessis and Dhoni joined forces, but that didn’t bear any impact either, as both du Plessis (7) and Dhoni (5) were dismissed in consecutive overs. At this point, CSK was languishing at 81/5 in 12 overs.
Mithun Manhas and Ravindra Jadeja walked in to save the CSK the blushes. Together, they took the team past the 100 figure, but Manhas was out immediately after for 10 after Bhatia got his due. With this, Ashwin walked into the middle and together with Jadeja (26), he steered CSK to a respectable total of 140/6.