CSK vs RR IPL 2023: Who won today's IPL Match? Check Man of the Match Award Winner

In another nail-biting thriller of Indian Premier League (IPL 2023), the Rajasthan Royals (RR) have managed to beat the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 3 runs in their own den at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The game once again reached the 20th over where Sandeep Sharma bowled amazingly well to help the Rajasthan Royals breach CSK’s Chepauk fortress for the first time in 15 years. With this victory, the Rajasthan Royals have now climbed to the top position on the points table in IPL 2023.

CSK vs RR IPL 2023: Who won today’s IPL Match? Check Man of the Match Award Winner

For the Rajasthan Royals, senior cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin was the star performer as he contributed sensationally well both in the bowling as well as batting departments. After having promoted up the order, Ashwin played a valuable knock of 30 runs off 22 balls that included 2 sixes and 1 four. He also ended up with fine bowling spell of 2 for 25 in his four overs. Therefore, Ravichandran Ashwin was awarded Man of the Match for his stupendous all-round performance.

CSK vs RR: Spinners and Sandeep’s impressive 20th over helps RR breach Chepauk fortress

After losing the toss and being asked to bat first, the Rajasthan Royals did not had the best of starts they ended up losing the wicket of their in-form opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in just the second over. However, the pair of Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal then added a crucial partnership of 77 runs to bail RR out of trouble. Padikkal got out in the 9th over after having scored 38 runs off 26 balls and RR captain Sanju Samson got dismissed for his second consecutive duck this year in IPL 2023. But, Buttler continued his superb form and notched up a brilliant knock of 52 runs off 36 balls that included 3 sixes.

During the middle-overs, Ravichandran Ashwin also contributed with a lovely cameo of 30 runs while Shimron Hetmyer smashed an unbeaten 30 runs off only 18 deliveries to help the Rajasthan Royals finish with a challenging score of 175 for 8 in their 20 overs. For Chennai Super Kings, the trio of Akash Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and Tushar Deshpande ended up taking two wickets each.

In the chase, the Chennai Super Kings also lost their premier opening batsman Ruturaj Gaikwad during only the third over with just 10 runs on the scoreboard. The duo of Devon Conway and Ajinkya Rahane then combined together to add a fine partnership of 68 runs for the second wicket. However, Rajasthan Royals senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled really well in the middle-overs having taken two crucial wickets. Conway played well for his impressive 50 runs off 38 balls, but it was Yuzvendra Chahal’s match-defining over where he dismissed both Conway and Ambati Rayudu that made things very difficult for the Chennai Super Kings.

However, there was another twist in the tale as the pair of CSK captain MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja smashed as many as 19 runs in the 19th over. Dhoni also notched up two incredible back-to-back sixes in the 20th over but senior pacer Sandeep Sharma held his nerves remarkably well towards the end to eventually help Rajasthan Royals secure an unbelievable 3-run victory.

IPL 2023 Point table

Teams	Mat	Won	Lost	Pts	NRR
Rajasthan Royals	4	3	1	6	+1.588
Lucknow Super Giants	4	3	1	6	+1.048
Kolkata Knight Riders	3	2	1	4	+1.375
Gujarat Titans	3	2	1	4	+0.700
Chennai Super Kings	4	2	2	4	+0.225
Punjab Kings	3	2	1	4	-0.235
Royal Challengers Bangalore	3	1	2	0	-0.800
Mumbai Indians	3	1	2	2	-0.879
Sunrisers Hyderabad	3	1	2	2	-1.502
Delhi Capitals	4	0	4	0	-1.576