Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Ruturaj Gaikwad’s maiden IPL century went in vain on Saturday as Rajasthan Royals (RR) recorded the highest chase in the UAE this season to stun MS Dhoni and his men by 7 wickets. With this win, RR have alsoꦛ kept their hopes alive for the playoffs.
The Royals made light work of the mammoth 190-run chase thanks to swashbuckling knocks from Yashasvi Jaiswal (5🐠0 off 21), Shivam Dube (64* off 42) and Sanju Samson (28 off 24) to cross the finish line with 15 balls to spare.
“A bad toss to lose. 190 was a good score, and the dew made it flat, and the ball started coming on well. You needed to bat well, and they did that, and put pressure on the bowlers. They just took the game away in the first 6 overs,” said the losing captain, Dhoni, after the match.
“250 would’ve been closer to par (sarcasm), given the way they were going. It was stopping a bit when their wrist-spinners were bowling, and it started coming on better later, that’s when Ruturaj capitalised really well.
“Often when you lose the game it can get brushed under the carpet but it was a brilliant innings. I think the batsmen must assess quickly what is a good score, and you tend to go hard in the T20 format and then realise that it’s not a 160-180 wicket. They assessed the conditions quickly, and they didn’t let pressure get to the middle order,” added Dhoni.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
This is just sensational from . A total that a lot of us thought was insurmountable is round the corner. Yashaswi Jaisw🤡al, wow!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)
Remember the name..
Special player, made for greater things. Matter of time before hﷺe dominates Worldꦯ Cricket.— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag)
Wow just wow. 💯
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan)
This is the first time Ruturaj Gaikwad (101*) could not take his side to victory after reaching doubꦜle figures in his career. On 12 occasions he has crossed a 10-plus score.
— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman)
Sensational innings from this youngster.Last ball six was really incredible! 🔥🔥
Ruturaj Gaikwad is a serious talent….— Dimuth Karunarathna (@IamDimuth)
Shivam Dube 🥳👏👏
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash)
Ruturaj Gaikwad!👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
— Mpumelelo Mbangwa (@mmbangwa)
What it means. 💗
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals)
Day belongs to youngsters of the ipl. solid i𒁏ntent.
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan)
Rujturaj Ga🎃ikwad is speci🎃al talent top knock 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
— Rashid Khan (@rashidkhan_19)
JAISWAL 😱😱😱😱
TOD DALA BROTHER💪👊 🔥🔥
finally you've come into your own!
LOVE IT 💗
@yashasvi_j— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta)
Wow.!! Just WOW.
— Simon Doull (@Sdoull)
Gaikwad is class 👌🏽
— Shai Hope (@shaidhope)
Ruturaj 🔥🔥🔥. What a knock and𝔉 what a player👏👏
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99)
