CSK 116/3 in 15 overs: Tewatia to Ali. OUT! Excellent work from Tewatia and Samson. Ali is stumped! Some relief for Tewatia after two glorious sixes from Gaikwad down the ground. Ali follows suit by dancing down the wicket but Tewatia sees it and fires the ball wide. Samson does well to press down to his wide left and flips back to smash the stumps. Moeen Ali st †Samson b Tewatia 21 (17b 1×4 1×6)

CSK 100/2 in 14 overs: FIFTY for Rutu and that’s 100 up for CSK! Slightly on the slower side but Gaikwad has played well to the rhythm of the game. The challenge for him will be to lift the scoring rate from here.

CSK 97/2 in 13 overs: All class from Mo!  Markande opens with a googly and Moeen picks it well and slams it to the long-on fence for four. The leggie fends short from around the wicket and Moeen easily tonks it over mid-wicket for a maximum to finish. The ease on the shots is a delight to watch.

CSK 83/2 in 12 overs: On the charge again! Gaikwad splits the off-side fielders with perfection once again as he lofts Tewatia over cover for four. Moeen and Gaikwad keep busy and sneak in some quick runs as 13 runs come from the over.

CSK 70/2 in 11 overs: Brilliant from Rutu! Markande flights one in to Gaikwad. He swiftly creates room on the off and lofts the elegantly over covers for four. Splits the long-on and mid-wicket fielder with absolute precision there.

CSK 63/2 in 10 overs: The boundaries have dried up. Akash fires the ball into the stumps and Moeen struggles to break free. Akash directs a fine bouncer and again shares a few words with the batter. Some toughness on debut there but he gets a word of caution from the umpire.

Akash Singh is back

CSK 59/2 in 9 overs: Tewatia to Raina. OUT! Drags it straight to the fielder at deep mid-wicket! Raina’s horrendous season continues as he fails to shine on his 200th game for CSK. Tewatia’s the man with the golden arm tonight. He tosses it wide and invites Raina to play the slog over the on-side fence. Raina takes on the challenge of clearing the longer side but fails to get the desired timing on it. Moeen Ali joins Gaikwad. He’s off the mark with a single down to long-off. Raina c Shivam Dube b Rahul Tewatia 3 (5b)

CSK 52/1 in 8 overs: Markande angles the ball into Raina’s pads. He tucks it to the on-side and gets a single. He cramps the batters for room and they tread on singles.

Mayank Markande replaces Fizz

CSK 48/1 in 7 overs: Tewatia to du Plessis. OUT! Foxes Faf with a straighter one and Samson does the rest! Tewatia floats it in on the middle-stump line as Faf dances down the wicket. He misses it altogether as he aims to tuck it fine. Beats him and Samson collects it well before smashing the stumps.  Faf du Plessis st †Samson b Tewatia 25 (19b 2×4 1×6)

Tewatia into the attack

CSK 44/0 in 6 overs: Glorious from du Plessis! Mustafizur hits the length while angling towards the leg. du Plessis steps to his left and tonks the ball over long-on for six! A collision to follow as Faf sets out on a single. He bangs into Mustafizur at the non-striker’s and both men fall down and we have a delay. They are back on, thankfully. Gaikwad gets a single to mark the end of the Powerplay.

Faf and Fizz in a nasty collision.   –  SPORTZPICS

CSK 34/0 in 5 overs: Faf on the move! du Plessis charges to Sakariya first-ball and slams the ball past the mid-on fielder for an exquisite boundary. A stroke of luck again for Faf as Sakariya’s cutter clips the outside-edge and flies over the short third fielder for another four.  Sakariya then squares up Gaikwad with a straighter one that skims through the line as Gaikwad attempts a rash heave.

Sakariya switches ends

CSK 25/0 in 4 overs: Fizz offers no pace to the batters as he employs the cutters to good effect. du Plessis and Gaikwad nudge about the inner-circle and find four runs.

Mustafizur replaces Chetan. Some royalty to have three left-arm seamers in the order!

CSK 20/0 in 3 overs: A hint for fortune for both batters! Akash swings the ball into Faf who flicks it aerially towards mid-wicket. Phillips makes ground and nearly reaches the ball on the full. Looks like a tough drop there. Akash then takes the ball away from over the wicket to Gaikwad who edges it past the keeper for four. Sanju misses a trick with no first-slip there. Young Akash lets his frustration out by hurling a few words at Gaikwad

CSK 12/0 in 2 overs: Fine start for Sakariya. He mixes up the length while attacking the stumps and varies his pace to keep Gaikwad and Faf on their toes. Just the two singles in the over.

Chetan Sakariya from the opposite end

CSK 10/0 in 1 over: Ruturaj on his way! A glorious way to open his account as he sends the debutant’s first delivery straight down to the boundary with a crisp straight drive. Akash bowls in the fine channel before loosening up again on the last ball.  Gaikwad stands firm on the crease and punches the ball off the back-foot through covers for another boundary. Top start for CSK.

Akash Singh up with the new ball for RR.

Game On! du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad at the middle for CSK.

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Chennai Super Kings XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, KM Asif, Josh Hazlewood

Rajasthan Royals XI: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shivam Dube, Glenn Phillips, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Akash Singh, Mayank Markande, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman

Another milestone for MSD!
RR vs CSK: Dhoni plays 200th match as IPL captain

TOSS TIME!

6-52PM IST: The all-important toss coming up. Can RR make the right changes tonight? Samson’s men are right on the brink while Dhoni’s CSK might roll in a few changes given that its qualification is sealed.

PITCH REPORT from Nick Knight and Pommie Mbangwa: ‘It’s a new pitch and has not been used before this season. This is the best looking pitch, flat wicket with a good covering of grass. Wouldn’t be much quick, neither will it spin much. It has an odd crack though. The fast bowlers need to stick to the back of a length area and use their variations. Expect it to be a batting-friendly pitch, reckon Nick Knight and Pommie Mbangwa.’

6-36PM IST: David Miller to the broadcaster: We definitely have a chance to qualify if we win our next three games. You are always going to have games where you will regret sometimes, the closer ones. We need to do well in the next three games. It’s my second year at Rajasthan and it has really been enjoyable. We have a young side, a lot of local boys who have a lot of potential. Hopefully we can put the learning and potential onto the field and get going..

6-27PM IST: Numbers Game

5-35PM IST: RR vs CSK HEAD TO HEAD

Abu Dhabi’s prepping for a fine Saturday evening.   –  SPORTZPICS

Match Preview

Rajasthan Royals will face a tough test against table-toppers Chennai Super Kings in Abu Dhabi on Saturday in a match that could decide its fate in the competition.

Royals, currently placed seventh in the table with just four wins, need to win its remaining three matches by good margins to have any hope of reaching the playoffs.

In the absence of its star players, the team has been outplayed in its last three matches.

If not for Kartik Tyagi’s brilliant final over against Punjab Kings, the team would not even have the solitary win it has in the UAE so far.

The main problem for the Royals has been its misfiring middle-order with an over-reliance on skipper Sanju Samson.

In the last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the former champions squandered a promising start to slump from 100/1 to 149/9.

CSK, on other hand, has no pressure after it sealed its playoff berth with a six-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Thursday.

With nine wins from 11 matches, the team can now afford to experiment with players who have not played regularly, and coach Stephen Fleming stated that the team would look into it.

“We will certainly talk about how we can manage our players, making sure that we manage the team that played today (on Thursday) and also the opportunities for guys who are on the fringe. So we have (been) afforded that luxury now, but we won’t be too experimental,” said Fleming.

RR vs CSK DREAM 11 PREDICTION

Rajasthan: 4/7 | Chennai: 7/7

Wicketkeeper: Sanju Samson

Batters: Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Evin Lewis, Ruturaj Gaikwad

All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja (c), Dwayne Bravo (vc), Mahipal Lomror

Bowlers: Josh Hazlewood, Mustafizur Rahman, Shardul Thakur

Credits left: 0.0

Where to watch today’s match?

The IPL 2021 match between RR and CSK will be aired live on Star Sports channels – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 3 HD at 7-30pm. The online streaming will be available on Hotstar.