IPL 2025, CSK vs RR Highlights: Rajasthan Royals avoid another collapse, end season with 6-wicket win

Ashwin continues 17th over, his third ball is sent over deep midwicket for six by Jurel. He takes a single next ball and then Hetmyer glances the fifth past Dhoni for a four. He then charges down the track and sends the last ball over square leg for a six. 

RR now need just 6 to win off 18 balls. Despite the ignominous reputation they have developed over the course of this season, surely this is done. 

Noor with a rather unplayable delivery fourth ball of the 16th, slants it across Parag and then gets it to spin right back in. Parag gets an inside edge on his push and the ball hits the stumps. 

Parag b Noor Ahmad 3 (4)

Ravindra Jadeja returns for the 15th, bowls a gift with a cherry on top fourth ball for Jurel who rocks back and blasts the long hop over midwicket for six. Jadeja strays leg side fifth ball, Jurel paddles it behind square for a four. Single next ball and he keeps strike, on 11 off five, Parag at the other end on three off three. 

RR need 38 to win from 30. If they lose from here, well that'll quite the spectacle. 

Oh no need to whisper it too quietly now, RR definitely have got into that horrible territory once again. Suryavanshi goes for a big haymaker down the ground last ball, top edge and Jadeja takes the catch at point. 

Suryavanshi c Jadeja b Ashwin 57 (33)

Holed out at long on! Carrom ball from Ashwin for the second ball of the 14th over, Samson rocks back and tries to hit it down the ground. Mishit and an easy catch for Brevis. Whisper it quietly but RR couldn't be doing it again, could they? 

Samson c Brevis b Ashwin 41 (31)

Noor Ahmad oversteps fifth ball of the 12th. The free hit delivery is smashed over deep square leg and that takes him to 53 in 27 balls. The next delivery is a dot and he is on 53 in 28, Samson on 31 off 26. 

RR coasting along at 10.08 runs an over, their required rate is 8.37. 

Clearly Samson and Suryavanshi are looking to avoid taking unnecessary risks. RR are going at 9.44 runs an over, their required rate is 9.36. The players take the first timeout. CSK need a collapse here to find a way back. 

Suryavanshi on 28 off 16, Samson on 21 off 19. 

Noor Ahmad bowls for the first time in the eighth over, his fourth ball is a hit-me delivery, a long hop into Suryavanshi and he pulls it powerfully over square leg. Then back to back fours to finish off the over. 

Suryavanshi on 27 off 13, Samson on 19 off 15.

RR need 106 to win from 72

And RR finish the powerplay with a score of 56/1. It is quite extraordinary that Suryavanshi has been allowed to face just seven deliveries across the first six overs. Kamboj's last ball of the sixth over is driven by Suryavanshi off a length through the covers for four. 

He finishes the over on 11 off seven, captain Sanju Samson on nine off 10. 

Anshul Kamboj wrecks Jaiswal's off stump! Hard length delivery angling across the batter, Jaiswal goes for a swipe across the line. Inside edge and gone. 

Jaiswal b Kamboj 36 (19)

Khaleel continues for the third over, his second ball sent past the backward point fielder for a four by Jaiswal. Then he hits the third over cover for another four. The fourth ball is sent over cover as well but this time for a six! The fifth is then flayed to backward point for another four. Khaleel then sends the last one into the blockhole, Jaiswal digs it out and takes a single. 

He is on 31 off 16, Suryavanshi yet to score a run! 

Anshul Kamboj comes in for the second over, starts with three dots to Jaiswal. Then he goes slightly wide and that's all it takes when you are bowling to Jaiswal, the RR opener drives it up and over covers for a gorgeous six. He takes a single next ball. 

Jaiswal on 12 off 10, Suryavanshi on 0 off two. 

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi in the middle for Rajasthan. Khaleel Ahmed to bowl and Jaiswal starts with a pull to third man for a boundary!! No half measures here. Good comeback by the bowler as he raps Jaiswal on the pads twice but comes up with half hearted appeals. A single next and the 14-year-old takes strike. And he pulls but mistimes it. No harm done though.

RR 5/0 after 1 over

Tushar Deshpande is the catcher and even he seems to be in a bit of a disbelief. Fifth ball of that last over by Madhwal, Dhoni tries to paddle sweep the full toss. He hits it hard but straight to Deshpande, who had less than a second to react. He reaches up, catches it with one hand and tumbles backwards, keeps the ball in his hands. So Dhoni walks with a 17-ball 16 to his name. Some shambolic throwing allows CSK to take two runs off the last ball. 

Akash Madhwal strikes first ball of the last over. He sends in a low full toss, Dube throws the kitchen sink at it but cannot get the required connection. Jaiswal takes it reverse cup at long on and falls backward. 

A lot of swings lead to six runs.... off the entire over. Both Dhoni and Dube swing away throughout that over and keep finding fielders to perfection. That allows them to take just six singles in it. Not ideal to say the least. 

Deshpande returns for the penultimate over of the innings. CSK still struggling to keep their run rate above 10 and well, anything less than 200 on this pitch could be chased down quite easily by the RR lineup if they have their way. 

Dube on 36 off 28, Dhoni on 13 off 13. 

Parag returns for the 16th over. Five runs off the first four balls and then Dhoni clears his front leg and smashes the fifth over the bowler's head for a six, much to the crowd's delight. Two runs off the last ball and Dhoni is on 11 off eight, Dube on 26 off 21. 

Madhwal with a full delivery into Brevis fourth ball of the 14th over. The South Africa goes for a big hoick across the line, inside edge and the stumps are splattered. He walks off but that crowd erupts because the man walking out to replace him is MS Dhoni. Could it be the last time we see the legendary former India captain at the national capital? Well it is a question that will never get old, it will stay relevant every season. And so it is today. 

Brevis b Madhwal 42 (25)

And it has come in just 26 balls. Brevis has done most of the swinging, Dube yet to get into his groove really, scoring just 13 runs in this stand. But CSK won't mind any of that one bit. They would be happy with runs coming in any way or form and more importantly, Brevis showing just how much he deserves to be a permanent fixture in this team. 

Riyan Parag bowls the first over after the timeout. Three runs off the first three balls and then Brevis cashes in on a long hop from Parag, sent to the cover boundary for four. Parag with another stinker next ball, this time Brevis smashes it flat and hard for a six over midwicket.

Brevis on 27 off 12 at the end of that over, Dube on 2 off six. 

Maphaka handed the ball for the ninth over and we get to see a battle between two precocious South African talents with Dewald Brevis facing up to him along with Dube. Brevis takes a single second ball, Dube another off the fourth and then the former tonks the fifth high and mighty over deep midwicket for a six. Maphaka then bowls two consecutive wides and then Brevis takes a single off the last ball. 

Brevis on 16 off eight, Dube on one off four. 

All of a sudden, CSK have lost half their side inside the first eight overs! Wicket No.3 already for Yudhvir. It was a full delivery on Jadeja's pads, he goes for a flick and gives midwicket catching practice. That is as tame a dismissal as you would ever see in any format of this sport. CSK are collapsing in a heap here. 

Jadeja c Jurel b Yudhvir Singh 1 (5)

Wanindu Hasaranga takes just three balls to strike and it is Ravichandran Ashwin who has to go. Ashwin steps out, looking to send the third ball of the seventh over the river Yamuna and beyond. He ends up putting into the hands of Hetmyer at deep midwicket. 

Ashwin c Hetmyer b Hasaranga 13 (8)

He did help make CSK the most out of the powerplay despite the loss of two wickets but surely, surely he would've loved to go on. For now, he misses out on a half-century. Mhatre hits a hat-trick of fours off Deshpande in the sixth over. Then he looks to hit the fifth ball, which was pretty much a half volley on off, down the ground for a big one. It comes off the bottom of the bat and Mphaka comes running in off the boundary, puts in a dive to complete yet another brilliant catch. 

Mhatre c Maphaka b Deshpande 43 (20)

Yudhvir continues for the fourth, Two singles off the first two balls and then Ashwin gets a fortuitious four past the wicketkeeper. Then he blasts the fourth over square leg for a six. Yudhvir oversteps next ball and Ashwin takes a single after which Mhatre cashes in on the free hit by hitting the fifth over long on. The last ball is sent to the cover boundary for a four. 

Mhatre on 21 off 11, Ashwin on 11 off four. 

Some funky moves there from the five-time champions. R Ashwin has walked in at No.4. Meanwhile, Ayush Mhatre has seen two of his partners go in the previous over but seems to have his head on his shoulders for now. Tushar Deshpande continues in the third over, his third ball is too short and lacking venom, Mhatre pulls it to the boundary for four. The fifth ball is fired in at a length, Mhatre lofts straight down the ground for another four. 

He is on 10 off eight, Ashwin yet to face a ball. 

And, like clockwork, CSK are off to a horror start yet again. This is an excellent catch by Kwena Mphaka right at the edge of the circle. Yudhvir bangs the last ball of the over in on a hard length, Urvil Patel goes for a big slog across the line, as he tends to do quite a few times. No connection on it at all, Mphaka moves back quickly at mid-on and takes the catch over his head. 

Urvil Patel c Kwena Maphaka b Yudhvir Singh 0(2)

Yudhvir Singh strikes with the fourth ball of his first over. Conway spoons a simple catch to mid-off. This was a short of a length delivery at Conway's body. The Kiwi completely cramped for space and still tries to chip it on the up. The ball settles neatly into the hands of Riyan Parag. 

Conway c Parag b Yudhvir Singh 10 (8)

Mhatre drives at the first ball and it takes an outside edge and falls short of Samson. The batters take a single there. Then Conway tucks the second ball away behind square to run two. Deshpande goes a bit too full third ball and Conway drives it right back down the ground past the bowler for a four. Three dot balls after that though and so Deshpande ends the over well. 

CSK 7/0 in 1 over

All right then, here are the players and the latest opening combination for CSK is Ayush Mhatre and Devon Conway. Mhatre is facing up, Tushar Deshpande bowling the first over for RR. RR's X handle, meanwhile, indulging in some self-depreciating humour. 

To that one Pink shirt in the background, let’s win this for you tonight ??pic.twitter.com/MmRsoJCMOS

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) May 20, 2025

Simon Doull and Graeme Swann did the pitch report today for the host broadcasters. They said that it looks like a "magnificient surface. The square boundaries are 63m each, while it's 72m down the ground. "The other day we thought the wicket might spin. We were completely wrong. There's slight bit of friction around the good length area, it's a bit rough. It didn't spin much the other day, proved to be a belter to bat on. Slight bit of grass and a few tiny cracks. This pitch will be very similar to what we saw two nights ago, very good wicket to bat on."

Well there would've been a lot of yellow in the stands if it was DC themselves that CSK were facing. Today, CSK are the designated home side and so the Arun Jaitley Stadium seems to have turned into the Chepauk with absolutely no inhibitions whatsoever. The roar was deafening when Dhoni walked up to speak with Shastri after Samson was done. He is what the CSK legend said: 

"We want to express ourselves in our batting department. Need to figure out which individual will do well in which slot next year. Need to work on our bowling. Once we were out of the tournament, we wanted to find the answers for the next year. Need to look in to the combination and a couple of players we can pick in auction. We are on a roll in the batting department and we want to continue doing that, we struggled at the start of the season. When you are constantly under pressure that doesnt' work. You don't need to play all kind of shots, need to be selective."

CSK: Ayush Mhatre, Devon Conway, Urvil Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni(w/c), Anshul Kamboj, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed
 
Impact Subs: Matheesha Pathirana, Deepak Hooda, Vijay Shankar, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh

RR: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kwena Maphaka, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal

Impact Subs: Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Kumar Kartikeya, Shubham Dubey, Ashok Sharma, Kunal Singh Rathore

MS Dhoni spins it up in the air, Sanju Samson calls it right and he says that RR want to field first. Samson says that he is quite conscious of the number of times RR have fallen agonisingly short while chasing but there is "no hiding" in this game. "Everyone has to be a match-winner. They have to think like that. We need to be smarter and braver," says Samson. 

All right then, the Arun Jaitley Stadium is all decked up in yellow. Ravi Shastri makes it shake with his booming voice. Here we go! 

Ravindra Jadeja has not had the greatest of seasons with ball or bat. However, he has fared better ever since he started playing at No.4. Jadeja has been averaging 58.33 and striking at 145.83 from that position which really does make it look like CSK probably missed a trick in not letting him play higher up the order early on. 

What is up for grabs today is quite obvious - two absolutely inconsequential points. Whether either of these sides finish last or second last or anything above that is purely academic. And so, one might think what is the point of this game. Well what we have often seen in all sporting tournaments is that players tend to not really go in with that mindset in these matches. They are professionals, playing at the highest level of their sport, living a life that is a dream at best for a vast majority of the human population. If we end up having a thriller today, you shouldn't be too surprised. 

Chasing hasn't exactly been a happy occupation for RR for much of this season. They have lost eight out of the nine matches in which they have chased and this includes a Super Over defeat. No team in IPL history has lost more games while chasing. 

The last time a match was played, here Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan chased down 200 like it was child's play. Incidentally, RR to have a played who can actually be classified as a child, and he can also make 200-plus chases look like a walk in the park. CSK, on the other hand, have looked like a side following a T20 template that used to work in the early 2010s. If it is going to be another run feast thanks to Vaibhav Suryavanshi and the rest of the RR big-hitters, will it be another humiliating night for CSK? We can only wait and watch but it is food for thought. 

The BCCI has said in a statement that the final of the 2025 season of the IPL will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It has further stated that the Qualifier 1 and Eliminator will be hosted in Mullanpur. This will be followed by Qualifier 2 and the final, both in Ahmedabad. "Hyderabad and Kolkata were initially supposed to host the last four games before the one week suspension of the tournament.The new venues for the Playoffs were decided by the IPL Governing Council keeping in mind the weather conditions and other parameters," said the board. 

Ravichandran Ashwin would've been feeling the Yellove in the early days of this season. Now CSK fans will probably never turn on him but there is no doubt that nobody would be very happy with his performances, especially the great man himself. He has just five wickets to show in eight games, having taken them at 48.40 each. The last time Ashwin had fewer wickets in an IPL season was in his debut year in 2009.

These two sides have faced each other 31 times. CSK are ahead in the head-to-head records but only just. They have won 16 matches to RR's 15. Since 2020, the Royals have won 7 out of the 9 games between the two sides.

If CSK's top-order batting let them down this season, for RR it has bee the bowlers. Their bowling average (44.84) and economy rate (10.02) are the worst among all sides.

Among the many factors that has made CSK look like a team from a different era of T20s is their misfiring top order. Their top three batters have a combined average of only 23.68, while striking at 140.74. Both numbers are the lowest by any team this season.

The match pits two of the poorest sides with bat and ball in the Powerplay.

While CSK have endured the most dismissals inside the powerplay in IPL 2025 - 25 dismissals, 22.76 average and 131.71 strike-rate - RR have been the least impressive bowling unit in the first six overs - 14 wickets, 51.14 average.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi continues to dazzle the IPL environs with his jaw-dropping attacking range at 14. The stunning bat-swing has gotten the entire tournament buzzing and Suryavanshi has even topped his opening partner in terms of his scoring rates. 

Suryavanshi has a strike-rate of 211.11 in the powerplay in IPL 2025, the highest of all batters who have amassed at least 100 runs in the phase.

Yashasvi Jaiswal has rediscovered his striking touch this season. While his teammates have failed down the order, Jaiswal has set up the Powerplays with his belligerent hitting and the left-hander dominates the charts in the phase.

Jaiswal in the Powerplay in IPL 2025 - 333 runs, 66.60 average and 176.19 strike-rate.

Suffering their 10th loss of the season at the hands of Punjab Kings a few days ago, head coach Rahul Dravid said it was not just the batters who were to be blamed for the team's sorry state this year.

"There's no point just blaming the batsman. I think with the ball also, to be honest, I didn't think it was a 220 wicket, it was about a 195, 200 wicket, and we gave 20 runs extra."

“If we look at the numbers, we have probably not been good enough with the ball. Both at taking wickets and controlling runs. We are chasing 200-220 every game,” he added.

"It's been a tough one. We've got close, but we haven't been able to finish the job. It's been one of those kind of seasons where you always feel with the ball that we probably give 15-20 runs extra and then you've got yourself in some really good positions to win the games, but we haven't been able to finish the job and a little bit around that lower, lower-middle order we just haven't been able to click and get the big shots that we need,” admitted Dravid.

Despite the drastic blip this season, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming continues to bank on their philosophy of relying on experience. The Kiwi reiterated that age did not bother his ideology and that the side will attempt to create a balance between the veterans and the young guns soon enough. READ MORE

RR Predicted XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kwena Maphaka, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal, Fazalhaq Farooqi

CSK Predicted XI: Ayush Mhatre, Urvil Patel, Devon Conway, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, R Ashwin, MS Dhoni (w/c), Anshul Kamboj, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana

Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Wanindu Hasaranga, Kwena Maphaka, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shubham Dubey, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Kumar Kartikeya, Ashok Sharma, Kunal Singh Rathore, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Maheesh Theekshana, Lhuan-dre Pretorius

Chennai Super Kings Squad: Ayush Mhatre, Devon Conway, Urvil Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, MS Dhoni(w/c), Anshul Kamboj, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana, Shivam Dube, Deepak Hooda, Jamie Overton, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tripathi, Shreyas Gopal, Sam Curran, Rachin Ravindra, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Shaik Rasheed, Andre Siddarth C

There's not a lot of spice left in it, is there?The laggards gear up for a face-off in neutral Delhi and both CSK and RR have nothing but a few inspections that could be of use for next season to gain from this outing. The Royals are turning up for their final fixture while CSK have a couple of matches left to zero in on their bench strength. Moreover, the match pits the contrasts in the oldest and the youngest players - MS Dhoni and Vaibhav Suryavanshi - on the park for a rare viewing.