Ranchi: Chennai Super Kings jumped to the top of the table with a fine five-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in an Indian Premier League match here on Tuesday.
Skipper MS Dhoni again took the team home safely with an unbeaten 26 off 16 balls along with Ravindra Jadeja (11 not out) as Chennai Super Kings achieved the target of 149 with two balls to spare and five wickets in hand.
Though Super Kings lost two quick wickets of Brendan McCullum (6) and Suresh Raina (2) inside five overs, Dwayne Smith (44) and Faf du Plesis (38) kept the Super Kings on track with their valuable knocks.
Both McCullum and Raina were removed by left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma, who was the most impressive of the Rajasthan bowlers with two for 20.
Smith was the aggressive one as he struck five fours and two sixes in his 35-ball innings while Du Plesis, was happy giving the strike to his West Indian team mate.
With Du Plessis back in the dug out, Super Kings were 121 for five in 17.3 overs. They needed another 28 runs in 15 balls. Dhoni made it look simple and finished off the job with ease. He struck a four and a six in his 16-ball innings and got good support from Jadeja to take the team through.
Earlier, a captain’s knock of 51 by Shane Watson took Rajasthan Royals to 148 for eight in 20 overs. Besides Watson, Ankit Sharma (30) and Stuart Binny (22) were the two other batsmen, who could get to double figures. (IANS)
Brief scores:
RR: 148/8, 20 overs (S Watson 51, A Sharma 30; M Sharma 3-31, R Jadeja 2-18)
CSK: 149/5, 19.4 overs (D Smith 44, F du Plessis 38; A Sharma 2-20)