Nitish Rana top-scored with a blistering 81 off 36 balls while Wanindu Hasaranga led the way with the ball with figures of 4/35.
Rajasthan Royals won their first match in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season after beating Chennai Super Kings by six runs at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday.
Nitish Rana top-scored with a blistering 81 off 36 balls while Wanindu Hasaranga led the way with the ball with figures of 4/35.
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Defending 182, Jofra Archer gave Rajasthan Royals a dream start with a wicket-maiden, dismissing Rachin Ravindra for a duck to claim the first maiden over by any bowler in IPL 2025.
Archer’s fiery spell helped restrict CSK to 42/1 at the end of the powerplay as Rahul Tripathi and Ruturaj Gaikwad struggled to accelerate with the Royals keeping them on a tight leash.
The pressure eventually paid off when Hasaranga struck with his first ball, removing Tripathi in the eighth over.
Shivam Dube, brought in as an Impact Player for Matheesha Pathirana, provided a few hefty blows before a stunning Riyan Parag catch off Hasaranga’s bowling ended his cameo.
Catch of the season contender? 🔥😍 pic.twitter.com/aQdqoX7lBn
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) March 30, 2025
Hasaranga then bowled Vijay Shankar in the 12th over and also got the wicket of the well-set Ruturaj Gaikwad four overs later after the CSK skipper had made 63 off 44 balls.
With 54 runs needed from 24 balls, Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni tried to muscle some boundaries in their pursuit of victory.
However, tight bowling at the death coupled with the dismissal of Dhoni by Sandeep Sharma in the last over helped Rajasthan Royals win the contest.
Earlier in the evening, after being asked to bat by CSK, Rajasthan Royals suffered an early blow as Yashasvi Jaiswal fell in the first over.
Nitish Rana, promoted to No. 3, counterattacked with a sensational display of power-hitting.
𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐚𝐧𝐚 😎
A beautiful innings of 81(36) comes to an end 👏👏
Nitish Rana thoroughly entertained tonight with his exquisite range of batting 💫
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/V2QijpWpGO#TATAIPL | #RRvCSK | @rajasthanroyals | @NitishRana_27 pic.twitter.com/8k5WrKxMdn
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 30, 2025
He raced to a 21-ball half-century and became the first player to score a fifty inside the powerplay in IPL 2025 as Rajasthan were on 79/1 at the end of the first six overs.
CSK’s spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Noor Ahmad applied the brakes on the scoring rate after the powerplay with the Afghan bowler dismissing Sanju Samson in the eighth over.
Rana survived an LBW call courtesy of DRS but fell moments later in the 12th over.
With Nitish Rana back in the dugout, Rajasthan Royals struggled as Dhruv Jurel and Wanindu Hasaranga fell in quick succession.
Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer struck a few meaty blows after the left-hander was dropped by Jamie Overton in the 16th over.
Parag’s 37-run cameo ended in the 18th over and Hetmyer departed for 19 in the final over. The tailenders managed just four more runs as Rajasthan Royals finished on 182/9.
Rajasthan Royals will face Punjab Kings in their next IPL 2025 match at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2025, brief scores: RR 182/9 in 20 overs (Nitish Rana 81; Noor Ahmad 2/28, Matheesha Pathirana 2/28) beat CSK 176/6 in 20 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 63; Wanindu Hasaranga 4/35) by six runs.