Naman Ojha justified skipper Warne’s faith in him by scoring a brilliant 80 off just 49 balls to set up the game for the Royals. The innings helped the Rajasthan  to post a competitive total – 177 off their 20 overs. In reply, Chennai  could manage just 160, falling short by 17 runs. It was Rajasthan’s fourth consecutive win and Chennai’s fourth successive loss. To me, the loss was the final nail in the coffin for Chennai and only a miracle can incur them a place in the semis.

Yet again, an opening pair of Lumb and Ojha gave Royals a rollicking start; Lumb being the dominant of the two. After the fall of Lumb, Ojha took over and dominated the lackluster Chennai attack. I felt, after the start that Rajasthan got they would be disappointed at not getting 200. But 178 was also a very difficult score to chase down.

Chennai lost their most dangerous batsman – Hayden early in the inning to Yusuf Pathan. It seems to be a ploy to give the off spinner the new ball especially against left handed opening batsmen. Even Sachin used Harbhajan successfully against Hayden and Gilchrist. Yusuf Pathan, having failed with the bat, contributed in bowling and fielding departments. He got M Vijay run-out with a direct hit and held 2 catches.

Murali Vijay looked in great touch and got 24 runs off one over from Narwal. But the onslaught did not last long. After the departure of Hayden and Vijay, it had to be Raina for the Chennai to do the job. But Raina was foxed by Warne and that pretty much sealed the fate for Chennai and it was left to skipper Dhoni and Badrinath.

Unfortunately Dhoni got run-out, due to a collision with Badrinath. It was the 2nd time in the season that Badri and Dhoni have collided with each other. Dhoni was right in expressing his anger on Badri as this was the 2nd time Badri was watching a ball instead of watching his partner. There was a late flourish in the end when Albie Morkel hit Warne for 3 consecutive sixes. But it was too little too late for CSK. Finally it was an easy victory for the Royals and after a poor start to tournament now they look serious contenders for the semis. What a turnaround!!

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