IPL 2023 Points Table: Rajasthan Royals jump back to top spot with comprehensive win over Chennai Super Kings

Rajasthan Royals exchanged places on the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) points table after the former’s 32-run win over the MS Dhoni-led side on Thursday.

RR scored 202/5 with Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring 77 off 43 balls and Dhruv Jurel and Devdutt Padikkal providing them a big finish. The victory helped RR jump back to the top spot in the IPL table.

Jaiswal continued his rich form with his third fifty of the tournament before Padikkal (27 off 13 not out) and Dhruv Jurel (34 off 15) provided the final flourish to register the highest total — 202 for five — at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.

Spinners Adam Zampa (3/22 in 3 overs) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2/35) then shared five wickets between them to restrict CSK to 170 for 6 despite Ruturaj Gaikwad (47) and Shivam Dube’s (52) best efforts. In contrast to RR, CSK openers found the going tough before Gaikwad, who was dropped on four, broke the shackles and hit Jason Holder (0/49) for a four over mid on before cracking a six over deep backward square leg in the fourth over. RR skipper Sanju Samson intensified the pressure by bowling spin from both ends and the move paid dividends. Devon Conway (8) continued to struggle and with the required run rate increasing he was forced to hit a Zampa delivery flat to Sandeep Sharma at mid off.

CSK were 72 for two at the halfway mark. Ashwin (2/35) then snared the wickets Ajinkya Rahane (15) and “Impact Player” Ambati Rayudu (0) to further dent CSK’s chances. He upped the ante, hitting some much-needed sixes to give CSK a glimmer of hope. The all-rounder brought his third consecutive half century with the help of four sixes and two fours. However, he couldn’t take his side over the line.

IPL 2023 Points table after RR vs CSK

RR are on 10 points and the margin of victory helped get their net run rate, which had taken a beating after they suffered back to back losses, to 0.939. This put them above Gujarat Titans and CSK, both of whom are on 10 points each. GT have an NRR of 0.580 while CSK are on 0.376. CSK had come into the match on the back of a hat-trick of wins. A win for Lucknow Super Giants on Friday against the Punjab Kings could now lead to CSK dropping down to fourth.

Orange Cap Table

Devon Conway remains third on the Orange Cap table with a tally of 322 runs for the season in 8 matches at a strike rate of 137.02 and average of 46.00. Gaikwad has jumped up to fourth with 317 runs in eight matches at a strike rate of 149.52 and average of 45.29. RCB duo Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli continue to lead the standings. Du Plessis has 422 runs in eight matches a strike rate of 167.46 and average of 60.29 while Kohli is on 333 runs with a strike rate of 142.30 and average of 47.57.

Purple Cap Table

CSK’s Deshpande is now third on the Purple Cap standings with 14 wickets, only behind second-placed Rashid Khan and first-placed Mohammed Siraj on the basis of his economy rate. KKR’s Varun Chakravarthy is fourth with 13 wickets while PBKS’s Arshdeep Singh is fifth on the same tally.