IPL 2020: Jos Buttler of Rajasthan Royals shines after thrashing Chennai Super Kings by 7 wickets

An all-round Rajasthan Royals performed like a well-oiled machine to spoil MS Dhoni's 200th IPL game as they thrashed Chennai Super Kings by 7 wickets to keep their hopes of qualifying into playoffs alive with 4th win of the season in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

RR were clinical in their performance from the start and performed brilliantly in all 3 departments of the game to topple an off-beat CSK side. Jos Buttler smashed an unbeaten 70 off 47 and stitched a 98-run stand for the 4th wicket with skipper Steve Smith (25 off 33) to make the run-chase a cakewalk for the 2008 IPL champions.

Chasing a modest 126 for victory, Rajasthan Royals were off to a sluggish start as they lost the big wickets of Ben Stokes (19), Robin Uthappa (4), and Sanju Samson (0) in the 1st Powerplay. Sanju Samson flicked one to MS Dhoni who took a stunning catch in Deepak Chahar's over, Robin Uthappa scooped one to Dhoni in Josh Hazlewood's over while Ben Stokes was cleaned up by Deepak



Chahar in the 3rd over.

Earlier, Chennai's decision to bat first backfired as Rajasthan Royals bowlers produced a superb effort to restrict three-time champions to a modest 125 for five. CSK were struggling from the word go as they lacked the firepower and were reduced to 56 for four in 10 overs.

Ravindra Jadeja top-scored for CSK with a 30-ball unbeaten 35 and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, playing in his 200th IPL game, made a run-a-ball 28 while adding 51 runs for the fifth wicket. Jofra Archer (1/20), the spin duo of Shreyas Gopal (1/14) and Rahul Tewatia (1/18) were economical in the middle overs, while young Kartik Tyagi (1/35) too was impressive.

Dhoni and Jadeja tried their best to resurrect the innings and then up the ante, but it proved to be too little too late. Dhoni was run out in search of a double in the 18th over. Kedar Jadhav continued to struggle with the bat as RR bowlers didn't give the CSK batsmen any leeway.