Rajasthan Royals (RR) won the 37th match of the 13th season of IPL in Abu Dhabi on Monday. He defeated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 7 wickets. Rajasthan scored 126/3 in 17.3 overs and achieved the target of victory. This defeat has given a big blow to Chennai's hopes. His path to play off has become extremely difficult. Mahendra Singh Dhoni could not make his record 200th IPL match memorable. On the other hand, Rajasthan captain Steve Smith celebrated the victory in a 'do or die' match with 'game changer' Jose Butler (70 not out, 48 balls).

With this victory, Rajasthan's team came down from the bottom position to 5th place with 8 points. His play off hopes are still alive. This was the fourth win by Royals in 10 matches. In the same season, Rajasthan had also defeated Chennai in the previous match. It was the 7th defeat in Chennai's 10 matches. He is now at the bottom of the 8th position.

Dhoni's journey of 200 matches

First match: won against KXIP in 2008

50th Match: Won against PW in 2011

100th Match: Won against MI in 2014

150th Match: Won against MI in 2017

200th match: losers against RR in 2020

Chasing a target of 126 runs, Rajasthan's team got the first blow on the score of 26, when Ben Stokes (19) was bowled by Deepak Chahar. Robin Uthappa (4) also went on to score 28. He was caught by Josh Hazlewood in the hands of Dhoni behind the wicket.

Deepak Chahar brought another success and caught Dhoni's catch once again. The third wicket fell on the score of 28. Sanju Samson (0) returned without opening an account. After this, captain Steve Smith (26 not out) and wicket-keeper batsman Jose Butler (70 not out) made the victory easy by sharing an unbroken partnership of 98 runs for the fourth wicket. Butler completed his half-century in 37 balls.

Chasing a target of 126 runs, Rajasthan's team got the first blow on the score of 26, when Ben Stokes (19) was bowled by Deepak Chahar. Robin Uthappa (4) also went on to score 28. He was caught by Josh Hazlewood in the hands of Dhoni behind the wicket.

Deepak Chahar brought another success and caught Dhoni's catch once again. The third wicket fell on the score of 28. Sanju Samson (0) returned without opening an account. After this, captain Steve Smith (26 not out) and wicket-keeper batsman Jose Butler (70 not out) made the victory easy by sharing an unbroken partnership of 98 runs for the fourth wicket. Butler completed his half-century in 37 balls.

Dhoni's men gave the initial shock, but ...

By the way, Dhoni's men were not easy to give up. Deepak Chahar (2 for 18) and Josh Hazlewood (1 for 19) completed their quota in the first 9 overs, but in the meantime they kept the Royals batsmen silent for most of the time.

The Royals' start of the innings with Bet Stokes (19) and Robin Uthappa (4) proved wrong again. Both of them were sitting in the pavilion till the fourth over. Sanju Samson could not even open an account this time. I have to praise Dhoni, who dived to the left and caught him with one hand.

The Royals came under pressure after losing three wickets within two runs. Smith and Butler effortlessly adopted the strategy of advancing the innings. Meanwhile, when Smith had not opened the account, then Dhoni took DRS against him for LBW.

Butler had taken up the task of scoring runs

Butler kept the task of scoring runs anyway. His six imposed on Shardul Thakur was visible. Smith faced the 24th ball for the first four. Butler completed the half-century off 37 balls.

RR allowed CSK to score 125/5 only

Rajasthan Royals allowed Chennai Super Kings to score 125/5 runs. Ravindra Jadeja (35 off 30 balls) and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (28 off 28 balls) were the only contributors for Chennai, with Archer taking one wicket for 20 runs, while Steve Smith used his spinners in the first 15 overs.

Shreyas Gopal (1 for 14) and Rahul Tewatia (1 for 18) combined to take two wickets for 32 runs in eight overs and kept the Chennai batsmen under pressure.

Dhoni won the toss in his 200th match

Dhoni's decision to bat first after winning the toss, becoming the first player to play 200 matches in the IPL, felt like a one-time reverse stance as 56 runs for four wickets till the score was 10 overs. Till now, apart from leading batsmen Shane Watson and Faf Du Plessis who scored runs for the team, Sam Curran and Ambati Rayudu had also returned to the pavilion.