Rajasthan through to CLT20 final

News

Cricket365
October 5, 2013

Batsman Ajinkya Rahane's quickfire half-century and three key wickets from spinner Pravin Tambe's secured the Rajasthan Royals a 14-run win over the Chennai Super Kings – and a place in Sunday's Champions League Twenty20 finale.

Friday's semi-final result saw the Royals extend their unbeaten run at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur to 13 matches, with a final total of 159 for eight ample in front of an appreciative home crowd.

The Royals' insurmountable tally was built on the back of Rahane's 70, which spanned a mere 56 deliveries – and featured a sextet of boundaries and twin sixes. Australian signing Shane Watson, meanwhile, contributed a complementary 32.

Chennai's performance with the ball was dominated by their international recruits, with West Indians Dwayne Bravo and Jason Holder and South African Chris Morris sharing seven wickets. Bravo was the pick of the bunch – thanks to figures of three for 26.

The Super Kings' response cherished initial promise, with opener Murali Vijay and the left-handed Suresh Raina rectifying the damage undone by Aussie Michael Hussey's early fall.

Batsmen four through seven, however, managed a mere 16 runs between them. Two run-outs, indeed, didn't help the visiting side's cause – and the 41-year-old Tambe's multiple strikes near completed the job.

Chenna's insufficient 148 for eight, too, would have read considerably poorer – were it not for all-rounders Morris and Ravichandran Ashwin's defiant alliance of 73 runs.

While Tambe was named Man of the Match, Rajasthan's victory came at a cost. Batsman Brad Hodge was ruled out of the final, which will be competed against the Mumbai Indians or Trinidad and Tobago, due to a knee injury.