It was a massacre by the hosts Rajasthan Royals in their opening match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 against five-time champions Chennai Super Kings at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on March 30.
The toss was delayed due to untimely rain, but it did not make much difference in this match and the play continued without any interruption. After winning the toss, Riag Parag invited CSK to bat first on a green wicket. What happened next was completely disastrous for the guests, as they were bundled out for just 127 runs in their 19.4 overs, also losing eight wickets.
Chasing a modest target, RR started with a bang. Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi scored 75 runs in just 6.2 overs. The host team eventually achieved the target in just 12.1 overs.
RR vs CSK: Points of discussion
1. Ravindra Jadeja's fairytale comeback in RR
From RR's side, the bowlers dominated the innings and it was a total collective effort. jofra archer And Nandre Berger took two wickets each, while Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi and Brijesh Sharma also took one wicket each. But, it was all about the man who made a sensational comeback in RR colours, Ravindra Jadeja. The great all-rounder had an excellent performance and took two wickets against his former team.
2. Vaibhav Suryavanshi organizes batting masterclass
The teenage sensation scored a clinical fifty off 15 balls to celebrate his fifteenth birthday. He was out after scoring 52 runs in just 17 balls. This was the second fastest fifty for the 2008 IPL champion. He already has a half-century in his name in 17 balls. He keeps surprising everyone with his brilliant batting.
3. The great collapse of CSK
The batting of the visiting team was disappointing in this match. They lost both their experienced openers, Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad for just 19 runs, and could not recover from the collapse. At one time their score was 57 runs for 6 wickets.
They were bundled out for just 127 runs in their 19.4 overs, as they also lost eight wickets. Jamie Overton was the top scorer for them with the bat by scoring 43 runs in 36 balls. Batsmen like Sarfaraz Khan (17 off 12 balls) and Karthik Sharma (18 off 15 balls) got starts, but they could not take advantage of it.
4. Are CSK missing MS Dhoni and Dewald Brewis?
The absence of MS Dhoni and Dewald Brewis was clearly felt for the Chennai-based franchise. Brewis is known for his ultra-aggressive batting against spin bowling and that was what was missing from CSK's batting tonight. MS Dhoni is known for his batting, especially during batting collapses. MSD would have been an ideal batsman in these types of conditions.
RR vs CSK: Who said what?
Ruturaj Gaikwad, Chennai Super Kings captain
“Disappointed?) Not much to be honest. I thought the conditions were really tough in the beginning, especially when facing Jofra and Berger. They bowled brilliant lengths and even after that, it was a bit tough for a medium pace bowler. You could see the spinners were getting some assistance as well. Yes, we would have been better with the bat, we would have taken the game deeper, shown some batting, probably taken the game to 150-160. I think it was one of those days when the wicket was a bit difficult. So I am not disappointed at all. (Do you reevaluate as a group?) You just leave it behind and move on. We have to play a game in the next three days. Make sure everyone is in good standing. One good thing is that there are a lot of youngsters in the group. So, probably a nervous start for everyone, but it's good to be a game behind and start off with a lot of mistakes. “Hopefully it will improve after here.”
Riyan Parag, Rajasthan Royals captain
“I got lucky at the toss. We knew humidity would play a role. Everyone executed their plans. A lot of preparation has gone into it. The aim this year is to win the trophy. We want to be a team that wants to play smart cricket. Brijesh, what he did was crazy. I told him (Vaibhav) he is going to play 14 games. He goes and does something like that. Really happy to have him in my team. Dhruv Jurel He arrives at three o'clock, Hetty at five. Hopefully we will win with this batting line-up.”
Nandre Berger, Player of the Match
“First of all, praise be to God – it feels great to contribute to the team's win and get us off to a good start (on his performance). Looking at previous games with big scores, you naturally get ready to chase a big score, so winning the toss and getting the ball first was huge for us and helped us get off to a strong start (given the circumstances and the match situation). The plan is always to get every batsman out – I can't really say my intention was to bowl the same exact ball to Sanju Samson, it just happened, you could call it a natural variation – but the overall idea was to bowl tight lines and get the batsmen to hit the areas we wanted, so I'm glad it worked in my favor today. The dressing room feels the same as before – there are some new faces and changes like coaches and captains, but the energy is good, everyone is smiling, and hopefully this is a positive start so we can continue that momentum.
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