IPL 2025: RR’s Winning Formula Against CSK

Since 2019, their squad has not ever been able to chase a score of more than 180 once. Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings. Gunning for a target score of 183 runs, the CSK team managed 176 for the loss of 6 wickets in their 20 overs to lose again.

Rajasthan Royals registered its first victory of the season by defeating Chennai Super Kings on Sunday in the IPL 2025 tournament. In the rocking game that was staged in Guwahati, Nitish Rana showed his big-hitting talent; by the end, he was declared the Man of the Match. Rana was the architect of Rajasthan Royals’ victory, scoring a brisk 81 runs off 36 balls. He rocked the crowd with 10 fours and five sixes in his innings. When asked about his innings after the match Rana said he planned to exploit the powerplay.

Nitish Rana said what?

After the first win in this season for the Royals, Rana said that his matches with the new ball were very good. “I had one job at hand, and that was to use the ball properly with the new ball. The powerplay with its maximum

strength was an optimal opportunity. The ball starts spinning after it gets old; hence, I wished to get into rain as many runs as possible in the powerplay. He said from the coach he would be batting at three, topping the batting card. He happily did the same,” he added. Regarding his stay, he narrated, “I wanted to stay for a long time, and this was the good thing that I could do it today.” When inquired if he would stay at number three, he said, “Will have to ask to ask Rahul Sir (coach Dravid).”

After Nitish, Hasranga Shines

After Nitish, the Rajasthan Royals emerged victorious by a gap of six runs-hence, allowing them to win against Chennai Super Kings thanks to four valuable scalps from leg-spinner Wanindu Hasranga. Rajasthan put up a total of 182 runs for a loss of nine wickets in 20 overs. The Super Kings could not get across the line once more and hence no longer chase down a target of over 180 runs since 2019. Today is the first instance that CSK could not cross that barrier — they scored only 176 for a loss of six wickets in 20 overs. With 63 runs by Rituraj Gaikwad, the rest of the batters perished early, leading to the team’s second consecutive loss.

The biggest culprits In CSK’s Defeat

Chennai Super Kings lost the eleventh match of IPL 2025 to the Rajasthan Royals by six runs. Rajasthan batted first and posted 182-3 in 20 overs. However, the chase for CSK collapsed and the team could only manage to put 176-6 on the board. This match was waiting to be marred by its own CSK players as five players on that team had little to offer against the Royals.

There Was No Finish For MS Dhoni

Mahendra Singh Dhoni also played a role in the failure of this encounter. This world’s best finishes failed to secure victory for their side. In a match where Chennai Super Kings needed 20 runs off the last over, Rahul Tewatia smashed it as Sandeep Sharma caught Dhoni deep mid-wicket.

Ravichandran Ashwin Fails Once Again

Once again, the game wasn’t in favor of Ravichandran Ashwin. He is continuously shown to be expensive in IPL. Also, in this game, Ashwin was too profligate, giving away 46 runs in his 4 overs and averaging an economy of 11.50. The only wicket he could take was also on the last ball. In doing so, he played no less a part in CSK’s loss.

Rachin Was Unable To Open The Account

A villain of CSK’s defeat was Rachin Ravindra. If Rachin had given the proper start for CSK today, the team would not have lost the match. But that didn’t happen, and after playing 4 balls, Rachin Ravindra couldn’t even open an account. Jofra Archer drove him back to the dressing room.

Vijay Shankar: What Did He Do?

Another strong contender for having a hand in the downfall of CSK was Vijay Shankar. Vijay Shankar had come in to solidify the middle-order batting but he too scored only 9 runs from 6 balls, sparing no pressure on CSK. The team is under pressure to up the run rate in the slog overs.

Defeated Badly By Jamie Overton

Jamie Overton has also played a big role in CSK’s defeat. Overton gave away 30 runs in 2 overs, because of which Rajasthan put a reasonable target on the board. On the other hand, the Rajasthan players didn’t seem to be having much trouble in front of the bowling of Overton.

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) are infamous for bad work rate whilst chasing big scores during the past two years, i.e. above 179. But after going through this bid, they registered a further wicket below that. It was 6 short runs to win against Rajasthan Royals chasing 183. Even with the brave and fast innings by Ruturaj Gaikwad with 63 runs, CSK scored 176/6 in their full 20 overs.

Winning Strategy for RR: Nitish Rana’s Powerplay

Nitish Rana thrillingly collected a whirlwind 81 off 36 balls, hitting 10 fours along with five sixes in one of the best performances of the match. His explosive performance in the first powerplay would make the Rajasthan team reach a decent score of 182 for 9 wickets after its 20 overs.

Hasaranga’s Magic Seals RR’s Victory

Wanindu Hasaranga, after Nitish Rana’s explosive innings, showed his best bowling with 4 wickets demolishing the CSK batting line-up against Rajasthan Royals. Good beginnings by Ruturaj Gaikwad saw CSK blow under pressure. The failure to chase a score of 180+ marked CSK’s second defeat in a consecutive line in IPL 2025.

Final Words

The momentum of Rajasthan Royals scripts a success story in their winning attitude with the Aggressive powerplay batting of Nitish Rana, a match-winning spell of Hasaranga, along decent death bowling. In contrast, CSK continued to flounder at the death and their mistakes were quite damaging by substituting the match-winning players.