Indian Premier League 2020 Match 4, Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings: As it happened

Skipper Steve Smith's return will come as a huge boost for Rajasthan Royals for their opening clash while MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings would look to carry-on from their win in the tournament opener.

Image credits: Twitter/@IPL

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the match no. 4 of IPL 2020 between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) that is all set to take place later today (September 22) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in UAE.

An emphatic all-round performance powered Rajasthan Royals to a 16-run victory over Chennai Super Kings. The match was the first high-scoring encounter of IPL 2020 with both sides crossing the 200-run mark.

Being put into bat, Rajasthan Royals reached a mammoth total of 216 against the Chennai Super Kings thanks to an absolute blinder from Sanju Samson (74 off 32 balls; 4x1, 6x9). Steve Smith (69 off 47 balls; 4x4, 6x4) acted as the sheet anchor for his side and kept one end steady right from the onset.

Although Chennai mounted a good comeback late into the Royals innings but Jofra Archer (27 off 8 balls, 6x4) hit four consecutive sixes off Lungi Ngidi’s final over to take his side in the drivers seat in this match.

Rajasthan will still miss the services of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes for their opening encounter. While Buttler is still in quarantine, Stokes is currently out due to family reasons.

While the quality and experience within CSK’s ranks is beyond doubt, the Royals still boast of enough firepower to claw out a victory against any side, even without Stokes and Buttler. Recent additions like Robin Uthappa, David Miller and Tom Curran are all proven match winners on their day while the sheer pace of Jofra Archer can bamboozle any batting side.

It all boils down to this, it’s Rajasthan Royals against the Chennai Super Kings.

The match, as it happened:

22 September 2020

23:39 IST

A brillant start to the tournament for Rajasthan Royals who can only get better from here with the likely additions of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes in their lineup.

It's all over here in Sharjah as the @rajasthanroyals start their #Dream11IPL campaign on a winning note.

They beat #CSK by 16 runs.#RRvCSK pic.twitter.com/n5msX8djpi

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 22, 2020

23:29 IST

Rajasthan Royals beat Chennai Super Kings by 16 runs. Dhoni hits three consecutive sixes off Tom Curran but it was always a matter off too little too late. Dhoni will be happy with his good touch, though. CSK- 200/6 (20 Overs)