Guwahati: Rajasthan Royals were brilliant with the ball against Chennai Super Kings in a thrilling IPL 2025 match which they turned in their favour with a six run victory at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium here on Sunday. 

Wanindu Hasaranga claimed four wickets to restrict Chennai's chase to 176/6, while Jofra Archer bowled a brilliant spell, only giving 13 runs in his three overs.  

Chennai started their chase with a shock from Jofra Archer, who was criticised for his poor performance in the previous matches. Archer's ball came in the right length prompting Rachin Racvindra to attempt a cut shot, but an outside edge was capitalised by Dhruv Jurel, with the New Zealand batter out for a duck. 

Hasaranga took up where Archer left off and went on a wicket spree. He dismissed Rahul Tripathi and Shivam Dube in back-to-back overs, providing a breakthrough for the Royals. He also claimed Vijay Shankar's wicket in his next over.

Skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad held the innings together on one side. But Hasaranga struck again in the 15th over to complete his fourth wicket. The Chennai captain was out after adding 63 runs. 

Chennai needed 54 runs from 4 overs when MS Dhoni joined Ravindra Jadeja at the crease. Dhoni struck a couple of boundaries, and the fans were hoping for a dramatic finish, where the former Indian captain could turn the tide in their favor.

But Sandeep Sharma dismissed him in the first ball of the last over to shatter CSK's hopes of a win. Though Jadeja tried a last-minute attempt to win with Jamie Overton, it was not enough for CSK to cross the finish line. Jadeja made an unbeaten 32 runs while Overton added 11 runs.

Earlier, called in to bat first, Rajasthan put up a fighting total of 182/9 against a disciplined CSK bowling attack.

Nitish Rana led the assault on Chennai early on in the match with a well-made 81 runs. He reached his fifty in just 21 balls and stuck on until the 11th over to guide the team to 124 runs. He was supported by Sanju Samson, who made 20 runs before Noor Ahmed claimed his wicket. 

After Rana's dismissal, CSK bowlers capitalised and returned to the game. Riyan Parag tried to accelerate the scoring with some big hits, but Matheesha Pathirana bowled him for 37 runs. 

Shimron Hetmyer was the only other batsman who reached double digits, with the West Indies star scoring 19 runs before Pathirana dismissed him in the final over. The rest of the batting unit failed to contribute to the scoreboard, reducing the team total to 182, which at one point was projected toexceed 200.

Noor Ahmed, Khaleel Ahmed, and Matheesha Pathirana each took two wickets, while Ashwin and Jadeja shared one each. Noor also claimed the purple cap with nine wickets. 

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