Gaikwad ton in vain as Royals thrash Chennai

Ruturaj Gaikwad of Chennai Super Kings plays a shot during the Indian Premier League match against the Rajasthan Royals at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday. (Sportzpics for IPL)

Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad hit his maiden Indian Premier League century but failed to inspire Chennai Super Kings who were outplayed by Rajasthan Royals yesterday. Gaikwad’s unbeaten 101 in 60 balls steered Chennai, who have already qualified for the play-offs and stay top of the table, to 189-4 after being invited to bat first in Abu Dhabi. Royals overhauled their target in 17.3 overs with Shivam Dube unbeaten on 64 as they won by seven wickets to keep their play-off hopes alive. The highlight remained Gaikwad’s knock which was laced with nine fours and five sixes as the batsman reached his hundred with a hit over the fence on the final ball of Chennai’s innings. Gaikwad put on key partnerships including an unbeaten stand of 55 with Ravindra Jadeja, who made 32, to become the tournament’s leading batsman with 508 runs in 12 matches. Royals came all guns blazing in their reply as openers Evin Lewis (27) and Yashaswi Jaiswal (50) set up the chase that was kept up by Samson, Dube and Glenn Phillips, 14 not out. BRIEF SCORES: Rajasthan Royals 190 for 3 (Dube 64*, Jaiswal 50, Thakur 2-30) beat Chennai Super Kings 189 for 4 (Gaikwad 101*, Jadeja 32*, Tewatia 3-39) by seven wickets.