IPL 2025, RR vs CSK Highlights: Wanindu Hasaranga stars with 4 wickets as Rajasthan Royals defeat Chennai Super Kings by 6 runs

20 off 6 and Dhoni will be on strike in the final over. Sandeep to bowl. Dhoni hits it and he holes out to Hetmyer in the deep!!! GONE!!! No fairytale tonight.

Dhoni c Hetmyer b Sandeep Sharma 16(11) 

39 for 12 now. Dhomni on strike and Sandeep will bowl this one. And Dhoni goes for it with a four to start!! Bouncer and Dhoni plays it to the third man boundary. Takes a single next. Jadeja with another single. They need boundaries at this juncture, not singles. AND BANG!!! The next ball is deposited straight out of the ground for a SIX!! Follows that with a single as he can't get a big shot. AND A SIX BY JADEJA!!! Oh dear!!

CSK 163/5 after 19 overs

45 runs from 18 deliveries now. Theekshana in the attack. Jadeja on strike. He takes 2 to start this one off, followed by a single. Dhoni on strike. Need big hits now. But there's another single. And another by Jadeja. Last two deliveries now and there's a dot. Theekshana with a huge over here. A single to end and Dhoni will retain strike next over.

CSK 144/5 after 18 overs

MS Dhoni is on the field now. In the non striker's end though. Jadeja on strike and he slams Sandeep Sharma fir a four before taking a single!! Here's Dhoni again. Huge cheers for that single by Jadeja. Dhoni with a single of his own, a favour that is returned by Jadeja. Dhoni has 2 deliveries now. What will he do? He takes a single. 

CSK 138/5 after 17 overs

Hasaranga to finish his spell with this over. Starts with a single off the first 3 deliveries before Gaikwad smashes him for a 6 off the 4th!! And he's gone!! The next ball. Tries a big hit and holes out to Jaiswal in the deep

Gaikwad c Jaiswal b Hasaranga 63(44)

Tushar Deshpande in the attack now and starts with a wide. Jadeja tries to find a gap but a fielder is there to cut off a boundary before taking 2 off the next ball. A wide full toss next and Jadeja keeps his bat face open to guide the ball to the short third boundary. And another wide!!! Bowler under pressure. 11 from the over.

CSK 120/4 after 15 overs 

Theekshana back and Gaikwad with  a sweep shot for a four to welcome the Sri Lanka spinner.  Bcak of the lengh next and he takes 2 to bring up his 50!! 2 braces off the last two deliveries as the over yields 12 runs.

CSK 111/4 after 14 overs

Sandeep Sharma in to bowl next and Jadeja with a single to start. Gaikwad returns the favour with a single of his own. Te singles continue off the next two balls as well.. Six singles off this one. Excellent bowling. 

CSK 99/4 after 13 overs

Hasaranga to continue and yields a single to start this over off. Shankar on strike now and he breaks the shackles with a huge six!! He has absolutely dismissed him. AND HE'S GONE THE NEXT BALL!! Cleaned him up!! Batter had no idea as it sails straight through!!

Shankar b Hasaranga 9(6)

Another spinner in Kumar Kartikeya now sent to the attack as RR look to push the initiative. But Gaikwad finds a gap in the long on region for a four!! Two more singles off the next deliveries. And Gaikwad ends the over with another four!!

CSK 84/3 after 11 overs

Back from the break and Shivam Dube has put the afterburners on, slamming Hasaranga for a 6 and a four to start!! AND THE BOWLER STRIKES!! How often do you see that. Parag launches himself as the ball was dying from him and pulls off a stunner. It's being checked though. Looks very close. The fingers are underneath and it's given out!!

Shivam Dube c Riyan Parag b Hasaranga 18(10)

Theekshana in to bowl the next over and Gaikwad gets a thick edge as the ball runs to the third ma boundary for a four!! A single next to put Impact Player Dube on strike. He takes a single as well which is followed by another as CSK batters keep rotating strikes. Just 8 from this one.

CSK 62/2 after 9 overs

Hasaranga will bowl this one and he has struck!!! Tripathi tries to break the shackles and Hetmyer pulls off a brilliant diving catch!! That's another gone for CSK.

Tripathi c Hetmyer b Hasaranga 23(19)

Theekshana introduced in the attack now and starts with a dot, followed by a single as Ruturaj's shot gets blocked by a fielder situated perfectly in the deep. Two more singles off the next two balls as scoreboard keeps ticking along. 4 from the over.

CSK 46/1 after 7 overs

Sandeep Sharma in to bowl the last over of the powerplay. Quick single by Tripathi to start this one off.. Gaikwad on strike now. And wgat a shot by the CSK captain. Goes down on one knee and flicks it to the deep square boundary for four!! Follows that up with an excellent drive for another four!! Swings and misses the next ball before sending the 5th ball to the boundary again!! 14 from this one.

CSK 42/1 after 6 overs 

Archer continues and there's a huge shout for an LBW. The umpire says no but will they review? No, they don't. And that's followed by a huge SIX to fine leg!! Smart batting. And another wideish delivery and tripathi helps it along for a four!! Poor from Archer. 12 from this one.

CSK 28/1 after 5 overs

Tushar Deshpande continues and Rutu with 3 runs off the first couple of deliveries to start. Tripathi comes down the ground next and misses. And finally he gets a proper bat to a delivery to smash it for a boundary!! Follows that up with another as the over ends sweetly for the visitors.

CSK 16/1 after 4 overs

Archer continues and after 2 dots, he finally yields a run for the first time in this match as Gaikwad rotates strike. A bounce now and there's a big appeal but when Parag looks for the signal from his players, they do not respond. It was missing bat anyway. Just a singlew from this one.

CSK 5/1 after 3 overs

Tushar Deshpande in the attack next against his former franchise and Tripathi finally gets himself and CSK off the mark with a single. And Ruturaj has gotten hit straight in the elbow. Oh no!! That's very painful as physios check on him. Looks okay to continue and Rutu with 2 runs. 4 from this one.

CSK 4/1 after 2 overs

Welcome to live action and Jofra Archer has the new ball in hand. Rahul and Rachin on strike. AAAAANDD HE STRIKES!! First over!!. Rachin gets an edge and Jurel behind the stumps takes an easy catch!!

Ravindra c Dhruv Jurel b Jofra Archer 0(4)

Last 5 balls now and Theekshana and Tushar Deshpande takes singles off the next two deliveries. And Pathirana gives away 2 wides. Needless at this stage with two tailenders in the middle. 1 from the next two deliveries and the over ends with a single. RR post 182/9

Pathirana in to bowl the last over and starts with a wide. And after that Hetmyer slams one into the sky and Ashwin circles under it and has managed to get a hold of it!! That's Pathiran's second of the night.

Hetmyer c Ashwin b Pathirana 19(16)

And that's another wickett down in the same over as a mix up in the middle leads to Kartikeya getting run out. Great job by the bowler Khaleel who picked up the ball, outran the batter and took off the bails.

Kartikeya run out (Khaleel Ahmed) 1(1)

Khaleel Ahmed in to bowl the penultimate over and Hetmyer has slammed a six to start this over off!!! Not where you would want to bowl to him. Archer on strike now and he tries fora  big hit now and he holes out to Ruturaj in the deep.

Jofra Archer c Gaikwad b Khaleel Ahmed 0(2)

On to the 18th and Pathirana starts this one with a yorker as Hetmyer digs his bat to keep it out. Swings again, gets an inside edge and takes a single. Back to back dots now as Pathirana keeps it tight. And the last ball has hurt him as it hits Parag on the elbow as physios are on his way to check on him. And the next ball, he's gone!!

Riyan Parag b Pathirana 37(28)

Noor Ahmad to bowl this one and Parag reverse sweeps the first delivery for a 4!!! Follows that up with a straight six!! Over long on it goes for a six!! WHAT A HIT!! 12 from this one.

RR 165/5 after 17 overs

Pathirana in to bowl the 16th over and starts with a dot before Hetmyer slams the second ball high up in the air and Overton has dropped it!!! It just went over his head after hitting his fingertips. And he slams a  four in the last ball to rub salt into CSK's wounds.

RR 153/5 after 16 overs

Jadeja back in the attack and he has sent back Hasaranga!! Or has he?? Hasaranga hits one flat and a diving Vijay Shankar takes an absolute stunner!! Hasaranga looks flabbergasted as the umpires check if the catch is taken cleanly. And yes!!! It's a clean catch and Hasaranga departs cheaply.

Hasaranga c Shankar b Jadeja 4(5)

Noor Ahmad in to continue and HE HAS STRUCK!! Jurel gets a huge outside edge as it loops up and looked to fall short but Pathirana with an excellent dive to get hold of it!!

Dhruv Jurel c Pathirana b Noor Ahmad 3(7)

Jadeja in the attack now and just gives away 1 run from the first three deliveries. The next two balls get two singles as well as parag and Jurel try to steady the innings after Rana's dismissal. Just 5 from this over.

RR 134/3 after 13 overs

Ashwin to finish his quota and Nitish starts this over with a huge six, followed by a boundary!! Already 10 from this one. And goes for the well too many times and the veteran spinner strikes!! Comes too far down and Dhoni with the stumping!!

Nitish Rana st Dhoni b Ashwin 81(36)

Chennai introduces Pathirana now and he starts with a wide. Bowls the next one on to Parag's legs and the batter just helps it on over the deep square leg boundary for a SIX!! A wide again, followed by 2 runs as the RR batters carry on with their job. 13 from this over.

RR 112/2 after 11 overs

Noor Ahmad continues and that delivery has spun past the bat. Brilliant ball. Parag tries to hit the second ball as well but misses. Takes a single to finally go off strike. Rana slices the next ball towarsd deep extra cover for a boundary. 7 from the over.

RR 99/2 after 10 overs 

Ashwin will continue and new man Riyan Parag gets off the mark in this over with a single. Huge shout by Ashwin for Nitish Rana's LBW!! Umpire gives out but Rana has reviewed. And the wickets are missing!! Great review. Rana survives. Ends the over with a four!! 

RR 92/2 after 9 overs

Noor Ahmad in the attack now . Can he deal some damage to the RR batting lineup? 2 from the first 2 deliveries as the batters rotate strikes. AND HE STRIKES!!! Sanju Samson tries to go for a big hit and he has holed out to Rachin Ravindra in the deep.

Samson c Ravindra b Noor Ahmad 20(16)

Ashwin back in the attack and just yields 3 singles off the first three deliveries as the RR batters keep the scoreboard ticking with ones. Just 5 from the over ultimately.

RR 84/1 after 7 overs

Khaleel Ahmed to bowl the last over of the powerplay and Nitish edges the second ball for a boundary to third man. Not where he intended but he won't complain. Back to back dots by Khaleel next as he keeps it tight. And Rana carves the next ball away to deep backward point for a boundary!! That's 50 for Rana. And he ends this over by crunching the bowler for 6!!! Huge blow!!

RR 79/1 after 6 overs

Spin has been brought in now with Ashwin bowling the 5th over. Let's see how the pitch behaves. And Nitish does not care. He gets down on his knee and slog sweeps the ball over backward square leg for a six!! And follows that up with another six in the same area!! And he sweeps again for another 4!! Ashwin is getting taken to the cleaners!!! 

RR 64/1 after 5 overs

Overton will bowl the 4th over and Rana has started this one off with a boundary!! Exactly what RR need at the moment. And brings out the ramp in the next delivery as Overton places it short and Nitish with a smart shot. Takes a single next and Sanju is on strike. And he joins the party by blasting the 5th ball over the ropes for a SIX!! A single to end this one.

RR 45/1 after 4 overs 

Khaleel Ahmed will continue and mines two singles off the first three deliveries as Sanju and Rana have been kept quiet in this over. Best be cautious and see out Ahmed's over before much damage but they need to go after someone else in the powerplay. Great timed shot to end the over with a boundary!!

RR 29/1 after 3 overs

Jamie Overton in the attack now and Nitish Rana and Sanju Samson take singles to start off this over. Rana is off running away with a boundary off the 3rd ball as Pathirana could not save the four. Pulls the next ball, goes up in the air but it just lands safely for 2 runs.  Flicks the next one and it just evades the reach of the third man fielder for a 6!! 

RR 23/1 after 2 overs

Khaleel; steams in and Jaiswal drives his first ball through the covers to start this off with a bang!!! But as it has been for Jaiswal this season, he can;'t build on that and mishits the ball into the hands on Ravichandran Ashwin!! THAT'S ONE DOWN!!

Jaiswal c Ashwin b Khaleel Ahmed 4(3) 

The stands are filled with yellow as Rajasthan Royals' home ground feels more like Chepauk. Will the pitch play like Chepauk too? We find out as Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal are in the middle. Khaleel has the new ball in his hands.

Chennai have made 2 changes in their lineup after the defeat to Bengaluru with Jamie Overton coming in for Sam Curran and Vijay Shankar replacing Deepak Hooda. Rajasthan, however, field the same team which lost to KKR in their last match.

CSK: Shivam Dube, Mukesh Choudhary, Devon Conway, Shaik Rasheed, Sam Curran

RR: Kunal Singh Rathore, Shubham Dubey, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kumar Kartikeya, Yudhvir Singh

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag(c), Dhruv Jurel(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande

Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Jamie Overton, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Matheesha Pathirana, Khaleel Ahmed

Ruturaj Gaikwad: We will bowl first. Looks a good wicket, better than the last game that was played here so we'll look to chase. So far so good, it was a quick turnaround, very little time for us but that's how the IPL is. We have to be ready. We have come here for the first time as a franchise, good to see all the love we've got. Two changes, Jamie Overton comes in for Sam Curran and Vijay Shankar for Deepak Hooda.

Riyan Parag: Would've done the same as well. My hometown, been brought up here and played a lot of cricket here, surreal feeling to play in front of all these people. We've done well in small bits, it's about coming together and putting up a collective performance. Same team for us.

Hewre come the two captains. The coin goes up and Chennai win the toss and opt to bowl first against Rajasthan.

The Barsapara Cricket Stadium perfectly balances the percentage of teams winning batting first and teams winning batting second with both having 40% each. Two matches have been won batting first while 2 have been won batting second while one match had no result. The highest team totals in this venue is 199/3 by Rajasthan Royals against Delhi Capitals in 2023 while 

In the other match of the day, Sunrisers Hyderabad lost their second match on the trot as their decorated batting line up faltered again as Delhi Capitals notched up their 2nd win of the season with a 7-wicket win.

Both Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals have played 2 matches each with CSK winning one and losing one while RR have lost both their matches

CSK: L,W

RR: L,L

The Kolkata Knight Riders vs the Lucknow Super Giants was shifted from April 6 to April 8 because due to Ram Navami festivities. “Kolkata Police to the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) regarding the deployment of personnel across the city owing to festivities,” the press release from BCCI said.

March 31: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders at 7:30 PM in Mumbai

April 1: Lucknow Super Giants vs Punjab Kings at 7:30 PM in Lucknow

April 2: Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Gujarat Titans at 7:30 PM in Bengaluru

April 3: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Sunrisers Hyderabad at 7:30 PM in Kolkata

April 4: Lucknow Super Giants vs Mumbai Indians at 7:30 PM in Lucknow

April 5: Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Capitals at 3:30 PM in Chennai

April 5: Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals at 7:30 PM in New Chandigarh

April 6: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Gujarat Titans at 7:30 PM in Hyderabad

The weather at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium is expected to go up to 30 degrees by the time the match starts. Accuweather is predicting a partly cloudy sky with no chance of rain. As the night falls, the temperature will go down to 17 degrees.

“That’s the right word to use, that he’s promoted. Riyan is one of our best batters, let’s be honest. And we want to give him as many balls as we possibly can. Twenty overs is a very short time and the more balls Riyan Parag bats for us, the better it is for us as a team,” Dravid was quoted by ESPNCricinfo on Saturday.

“But honestly, the move to No. 3 was a positive move to try and give him more time to bat. And we know how destructive a player he is and if he gets more time, then he can score more runs and that can benefit the team. So that was the thinking, but we can always assess that, and we can always see how it’s going. And I think he’s quite comfortable, he’s more than capable of batting at any position,” added Dravid.

Former India cricketer and commentator Aakash Chopra advised struggling Rajasthan Royals to stick to flat surfaces and back the batters to win matches. This came after season one champion, Rajasthan lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders in their opening two games.

“Saying it again—play on flat pitches and back your batters to win it,” Chopra posted on X. In Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and Nitish Rana, Rajasthan have gone with an Indian core at the top, with Shimron Hetmyer being the only recognisable hitter in the mix.

Jos Buttler, Kunal Rathore, Donovan Ferreira, Rovman Powell, Shubham Dubey, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Ravichandran Ashwin, Tanush Kotian, Abid Mushtaq, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Keshav Maharaj, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Nandre Burger

Ajay Mandal, Ajinkya Rahane, Deepak Chahar, Devon Conway, Maheesh Theekshana, Mitchell Santner, Moeen Ali, Mukesh Choudhary, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Shaik Rasheed, Simarjeet Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, Avanish Rao Aravelly