CSK vs RR Highlights, IPL 2021: All-round Chennai crush Rajasthan by 45 runs; move to second spot

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson wins toss and opts to field first against Chennai Super Kings.

Chennai Super Kings are marginally ahead historically. Out of the 23 matches both teams have played against each other, Chennai have won 14 while Rajasthan have emerged on top on 9 occasions. In the last 10 games, both have won 5 apiece.

Both the teams have traded equal punches in the last couple of years. In 2019, CSK did the double while in 2020 RR returned the favour in-kind.

In the 11 matches played, a total of 3,479 runs been scored by the batsmen with DC's Shikhar Dhawan (186) leading the batting charts. 138 sixes have been hit while 136 wickets have fallen with Harshal Patel (9) from RCB topping the wickets' list. 20 fifties and a hundred (RR's Sanju Samson) have also been smashed so far.

Suresh Raina has 609 runs in 21 innings against Rajasthan, including four half-centuries *** In five innings against the CSK, Jos Buttler has scored 216 runs at an average of 72.00 and a strike rate of 152.11 *** Ravindra Jadeja has picked 16 wickets in as many games against RR *** This game will be MS Dhoni's 200th game in the IPL as CSK captain *** Raina needs two maximums to become the seventh batsman to hit 200 sixes in IPL.

The experienced pacer Jaydev Unadkat underscored his value with a superb spell against Delhi while the young Chetan Sakariya has shown promise. The experience of Morris and Mustafizur Rahman could be crucial in tight situations. The Royals bowlers would aim to strike early blows to stifle the CSK batting which has not been dominant while the batsmen need to step up in what promises to be an interesting battle between two sides led by wicket-keepers.

Royals would like to see their batsmen fire in unison as the top-order collapsed against Delhi before Miller and Chris Morris pulled them past the line.

Meanwhile, Royals will be keen to build on the win over Capitals after a dramatic four-run loss to Punjab. Skipper Sanju Samson hit a magnificent ton which almost single-handedly won the opener for them and his form along with that of Jos Buttler and David Miller will be crucial to their chances in the tournament

England all-rounder Moeen Ali was in the thick of action in the win over Punjab and that should please the CSK think-tank. Faf du Plessis made an unbeaten 36 despite not being at his fluent best and would hope to build on the knock. Pacer Lungi Ngidi is also now out of quarantine and could be drafted into the playing XI to give more teeth to the CSK pace attack.

CSK hit back superbly after a chastening defeat to Capitals with Deepak Chahar putting his hand up with a four-wicket haul to break the back of the Punjab batting line-up, setting up a six-wicket victory. Skipper Dhoni would have been happy with the bowlers' performance after they had been taken to the cleaners by Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan in the opener. Chahar, in particular, came up with a fine spell, which helped CSK restrict its opponent to a below par 106 which the batsmen chased down without much trouble. Super Kings will expect Chahar to continue the good work while also hoping that Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur and the others also step up.

The two sides bounced back after losing their opening fixtures with wins, albeit in contrasting styles. While the MS Dhoni-led CSK had it easy against Punjab Kings, the Royals scraped through against Delhi Capitals in the final over. Both teams would be eyeing a second win to give their campaign a boost.

Three-time champion Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals would look to build on their first wins and gain momentum when they clash at the Wankhede this evening.

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Match 12 of IPL 2021 where Chennai Super Kings take on Rajasthan Royals in Mumbai.