RR Vs CSK , 11th IPL Match 2025 : Nitish Rana & Hasaranga Lead RR to Nail-Biting Victory Over CSK .

RAJASTHAN ROYALS Vs CHENNAI SUPER KINGS , 11TH IPL MATCH 2025, GUWAHATI : Nitish Rana & Hasaranga Lead RR to Nail-Biting Victory Over CSK .

RR won against CSK by 6 runs in their IPL 2025 match at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati. Invited to bat, RR posted 182 for 9 before held CSK to 176 for 6. Nitish Rana scored a blistering 81 from just 36 balls with the help of 10 fours and 5 sixes. Riyan Parag also contributed a useful 37 off 28. Noor Ahmad and Matheesha Pathirana claimed similar figures of 2 for 28 for CSK, while Khaleel Ahmed got two dismissals as well. Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 63 from 44 balls in the CSK chase but failed to guide his team home. Wanindu Hasaranga was RR’s best bowler with figures of 4 for 35. Nitish Rana & Hasaranga Lead RR to Nail-Biting Victory Over CSK .

TOSS-

Chennai Super Kings opted to bowl first after won the toss .

TEAMS LINE UP-

Rajasthan Royals Squad:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c), Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande

Chennai Super Kings Squad:

Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Jamie Overton, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Matheesha Pathirana, Khaleel Ahmed

RAJASTHAN ROYALS-

Nitish Rana walked in just the very first over of the innings, that too after Yashasvi Jaiswal had chipped one off a half-tracker to mid off. Whatever goodwill Khaleel Ahmed and CSK, who put them into bat, seemed to carry into the game soon went out of the window. Rana greeted the second ball he owned by hitting for a boundary. Jamie Overton, making his first appearance in the IPL, was slapped for 14 runs in his first over and 16 in his next as CSK failed to get their lengths right. Rajasthan Royals go for a big oversight to try and change things, R Ashwin is brought in and Rana is using the sweep behind square with effect as RR add 19 in that over. In his third over of the powerplay, Khaleel erred in lengths once again and allowed Rana to further cash in on a surface that was not providing much for the bowlers. Rana alone scored 58 out of RR’s 79 inside the powerplay.

Rana continued to be CSK’s biggest threat from one end but Noor Ahmed got a wicket right away on the other end getting a well set Sanju Samson caught at long off. It eased the scoring-rate although RR were off to a good base already. But when the off spinner made his return, Rana was taking one of CSK’s main weapon, R Ashwin, out, sweeping him for another four and a six. But Ashwin had the last laugh when Rana danced down the track early and was stumped for a 36-ball 81 after he threw one wide. It helped CSK’s cause as they managed to apply the squeeze courtesy their spinners. As CSK made a successful comeback, both Ahmed and Ravindra Jadeja chipped in to get Dhruv Jurel and Wanindu Hasaranga caught off mishits.

Shimron Hetmyer, dropped first ball, and Riyan Parag were the only other RR batters to hit the boundaries besides the top-order. But neither could have got them at the frequency which RR would have liked. Pathirana yorked Parag in the 18th over while Hetmyer was caught in the last over. Sandwiched in between CSK eked out overs without boundaries that kept them in the game. It was the early onslaught from Rana that helped RR go past 180.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS-

Much earlier in the game, the Guwahati pitch started to help the pacers convert bounce into wickets and both Jofra Archer and Tushar Deshpande immediately got appreciable bounce from it. The former got one of the balls to bounce and angle across Rachin Ravindra, having him caught behind. In this phase, shot-making was not easy through the line with Ruturaj Gaikwad also receiving a blow on the elbow once. CSK had managed to score only 5 on the board after the first three overs after Archer’s first over. But eventually, Gaikwad and Rahul Tripathi found other channels to the boundaries. They started using the pace behind square on the onside and upset the lengths of the bowlers. That made way for some handy boundaries towards the second half of the powerplay that got CSK back into the chase.

This was a phase of play CSK were looking to break free with wickets in hand. But Wanindu Hasaranga struck three times through the middle overs to almost single-handedly keep Rajasthan in the game. He had tripathi caught at deepmidwicket with his first ball. But CSK had their best spin-hitter come in next in Shivam Dube and he shoved the attack right back at Hasaranga, with a six down the ground. He continued the attack in Hasaranga’s next over hammering him for a four and a six, preparing to get that one big over that could turn the equation. But Dube was out off the very next ball when a diving Riyan Parag produced a brilliant catch at cover. But CSK countered through their skipper Gaikwad, who collected three boundaries off Kumar Kartikeya to maintain the scoring rate. Vijay Shankar in a brief promise to do so hit Hasaranga for a six but was only to be duped by a googly off the next ball when the required support was needed most at the other end. Gaikwad brought up his half-century soon after but CSK needed 61 with five overs remaining and a set Gaikwad their best bet.

With Gaikwad looking to take control, Hasaranga did again his part in the closing stages. CSK skipper did tonk Hasaranga down the ground for a vital six but became the legspinner’s fourth wicket of the night when he holed out to long on next ball to perish for 63. Hasaranga ended with 4-35 and made sure that he had a substantial role to play in RR’s defence of a mediocre score. The final stage of the game rested on the shoulders of Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni to make a match out of this for CSK. RR brought back Matheesha Theekshana for the 18th over and the spinner conceded just six runs with no boundaries as CSK was left to chase 39 off 12. The seasoned campaigners plundered six aba since from Tushar Deshpande’s penultimate over and accumulated 19 leaving Sandeep Sharma with the task of defending 20 in the final over. If that was puzzling, what followed was even more so: jofra Archer [3-1-13-1] still had an over left and yet RR had gone to him. But then, Sharma’s relief when he saw Dhoni hoist a low full toss to the leg-side where it dropped to Hetmyer, a sharp running catch under pressure. Sharma got rid of the threat from debutant Overton (who lofted him for one six) and ultimately guided RR home as CSK fell 6 runs short of target.

Brief Scores:

Rajasthan Royals 182/9 (Nitish Rana 81; Noor Ahmed 2-28, Matheesha Pathirana 2-28) def  Chennai Super Kings 176/6 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 63; Wanindu Hasaranga 4-35) by 6 runs.