For the second time in succession Mahendra Singh Dhoni stood up to provide a grandstand finish as Chennai Super Kings overcame a stiff challenge from Rajasthan Royals to secure yet another victory.
Chasing a target of 149 at Ranchi, Chennai needed 12 from the final over bowled by left-arm pacer James Faulkner. All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja took a single off the first ball before Dhoni took charge.
The India captain smacked a six before following it up with deft touches off successive deliveries to sprint a double and then three to seal the win.
In the previous over, with Chennai requiring 24 from the final 12 deliveries, Jadeja had slammed medium-pacer Kevin Cooper for a straight six to bring Chennai closer to victory.
Dhoni had pulled off a similar feat against Mumbai Indians on Saturday, when he smashed Kieron Pollard for a six and four to score all the 11 runs needed in the final over, leading coach Stephen Fleming to label him the best finisher in the game.
It had all looked very different when Rajasthan, having chosen to bat, had moved to 84 for 1 after 10 overs. But Chennai pulled things back, with medium-pacer Mohit Sharma (3-31) and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (2-18) proving particularly hard to hit on a slow, grippy surface.
Rajasthan eventually losing seven wickets and scoring only 64 in their last 10 overs.
‘’What we wanted to do was take it to the end but they bowled well and made us stretch a bit, the big shot from Jadeja really helped a lot," explained Dhoni.
“On a wicket like this you shouldn’t really go for more than 10 or 12 runs, it was difficult to score. we had a few overs like that while bowling.
“We wanted to give Ashwin more responsibility. He has batting ability and can go after the spinners. To some extent it paid off, you have to give them chances can’t expect them to perform all of a sudden,” he added.
Chennai are now on top of the eight-team table having secured 16 points from 10 games while Kings XI Punjab with 14 from nine games are in second.
Despite the loss, Rajasthan, on 12 points from 10 games also remain firmly in contention for a play-off berth.
In-form opener Dwayne Smith (44) and Faf du Plessis (38) had set up the chase for Chennai.
While Smith batted in his customary attacking fashion hitting five fours and two sixes off 35 balls, Brendon McCullum (6) and Suresh Raina (2) were out playing poor shots to leftarm spinner Ankit Sharma.
Earlier, Rajasthan skipper Watson came up with his best score of the season – a fiery 51 – but his team lost momentum midway through the innings to score a modest 148 for eight.
Watson’s decision to promote himself to the opening slot paid dividends as he emerged top scorer for his side with a 36-ball knock, which featured four sixes and three boundaries.
Except for a 60-run stand between Watson and his young opening partner Ankit Sharma (30), Rajasthan failed to put up partnerships and that pulled them down.
