On a pitch that was covered for most of the last two days due to wet weather, Chennai came in and crumbled to 127 all out in 19.4 overs. All six of Rajasthan’s bowlers shared the wickets.
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Sooryavanshi, 15, fell on the first ball he faced from Matt Henry, but fueled the chase with 52 off 17 balls, raising the third-fastest fifty in the IPL, as Rajasthan advanced to 128-2 in just 12.1 overs.
Sooryavanshi’s missed shot against Henry was dropped by debutant Kartik Sharma, a tough two-handed catch over his shoulders as he ran backwards from mid-wicket. Sharma failed to chase the ball and dribbled over the boundary, the first of Sooryavanshi’s four boundaries plus five sixes.
Sooryavanshi gave Rajasthan an excellent start of 74-0 in the powerplay. He hit wrister Noor Ahmad for successive sixes and brought up his half-century off just 15 balls before holing out to Sarfaraz Khan at sweeper cover in the seventh over.
Fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal had a front row seat to Sooryavanshi’s artistry. He was dropped on 26 before finishing on 38 not out off 36 balls.
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New Rajasthan captain Riyan Parag’s decision to bowl first in favorable conditions was justified as Chennai slipped to 38-4 against the quick pace of Jofra Archer (2-19) and Nandre Burger (2-26).
Former Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson (6) had a forgettable first match for his new Chennai franchise when Burger smashed his stump with a 140 kmph delivery.
Samson was brought in to fix the top-order batting woes of Chennai, who finished last last season, but captain Ruturaj Gaikwad also scored just 6 when he exposed his stumps against Archer’s pace and was bowled cleanly.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (2-18), playing for Rajasthan after 17 seasons with Chennai, struck twice in his first over to further reduce Chennai to 57-6.
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With Mahendra Singh Dhoni unavailable for the first two weeks due to a calf injury, Chennai were at risk of opening their campaign with less than 100 runs. But Jamie Overton top-scored with 43 off 36 balls before he was run out in the last over.
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AP Cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket