Recommended Stories
Du Plessis was the main scorer as he smashed six fours and two sixes to set the tone for the defending champions at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. This was the Super Kings` fourth win from seven matches while Rajasthan, who had four wins prior to this match, suffered their third defeat in this edition of the cash-rich Twenty20 league. Chasing a rather modest total, the Super Kings were off to a sedate start, by IPL`s standards, as openers du Plessis and Subramaniam Badrinath (15) added 55 runs in eight overs.
Slow left-arm spinner Brad Hogg gave the visitors their first breakthrough when he had Badrinath stumped by Shreevats Goswami with a ball that had a bit of flight. The dismissal, though, hardly had any effect on du Plessis as he continued with his attacking game and, along with Suresh Raina, added 61 runs for the second wicket, much to delight of the home crowd.
Raina scored 26 runs in 24 balls and hit three fours. While he started hitting fours from the second over, du Plessis struck his first six in the seventh over, when Ashok Menaria`s delivery was lofted over the extra-cover region. The South African struck his second six, against medium pacer Siddharth Trivedi, before Kevon Cooper brought to an end his stay by having the batsman caught by Goswami. Cooper then sent back Raina, thanks to Ajinkya Rahane`s excellent catch in the deep, but Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo (16) denied the visitors any further success while taking Chennai home.