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Agencies
Pune
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) handed Rajasthan Royals a 64-run defeat in a lop-sided Indian Premier League (IPL) contest at the Maharashtra Cricket Stadium in Pune on Friday.
The win saw the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side skyrocket to the top of IPL table with six points from four games.
Australian Shane Watson lit up the arena with a 57-ball 106 (9x4s; 6x6s) for CSK who put up a mammoth 204 for 5 batting first.
In reply, Rajasthan Royals couldn't muster a challenge being bowled out for 140 in 18.3 overs.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes with 45 runs off 37 balls (3x4s; 1x6) was the only one to make an innings of note.
Deepak Chahar, Shardul Tahkur, Dwayne Bravo and Karn Sharma claimed two wickets each while Watson and Imran Tahir claimed one each.
Earlier, a fantastic 106-run knock by opener Watson propelled CSK to 204-5 in the 17th match of the IPL.
The Australian all-rounder took just 51 deliveries to bring up his third IPL century, guided by nine boundaries and six sixes.
Put in to bat, Chennai were off to a decent start as openers Watson and Ambati Rayudu (12) shared a 50-run partnership for the opening wicket in 4.2 overs.
Medium pacer Ben Laughlin drew the first blood for Rajasthan as he sent back Rayudu in the fifth over.
Watson was then joined by Suresh Raina and the duo stitched together a 81-run partnership for the second wicket.
Raina chipped in with a crucial 47-run knock before falling in the 12th over to a Shreyas Gopal delivery which left CSK on 131/2.
CSK then lost the wickets of captain MS Dhoni (5) and Sam Billings (3) with the addition of another 30 runs.
It was leggie Shreyas again, who struck to dismiss both the Chennai batters.
Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings: 204-5 (Shane Watson 106, Suresh Raina 46; Shreyas Iyer 3/20) beat Rajasthan Royals 140 all out in 18.3 overs (Ben Stokes 45, Jos Buttler 22; D Chahar, S Tahkur, D Bravo and K Sharma two wickets each).
