The Rajasthan Royals went out with a bang, crushing the Chennai Super Kings by six wickets in their final match of the Indian Premier League 2025.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Arora set the tone with an aggressive opening stand. Jaiswal smashed 36 runs off 19 balls, including five fours and two sixes, before being dismissed by Anshul Khamboj.
Vaibhav Arora then took over, blasting a half-century off just 27 balls. He hit four fours and four sixes, finishing with 57 runs. Captain Sanju Samson chipped in with 41 runs, helping the team reach 95 runs in 10 overs.
After the top order fell, Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer took charge, playing sensibly to guide the team to victory. They sealed the win in the 18th over, with Rajasthan reaching the target of 188 runs in 17.1 overs.
Earlier, Rajasthan won the toss and chose to bowl. Chennai’s start was shaky, with Yudhveer Singh dismissing Devon Conway and Urvi Patel cheaply in the second over.
Ayush Mhatre tried to revive the innings with 43 runs off 20 balls but fell in the sixth over. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja also departed quickly, scoring 13 and 1 run respectively.
Bhavuka and Shivam Dube then steadied the ship, putting on a 59-run stand. Bhavuka scored 42 runs, while Dube made 39. Captain MS Dhoni played a steady innings, scoring 16 runs and hitting his 350th T20 six, but fell in the final over. Chennai ended with 187 runs in 20 overs.
Rajasthan may be out of the playoff race, but they ended the season on a high note. Chennai, on the other hand, has one match left to salvage some pride.