AHMEDABAD: Naman Ojha top-scored with 80 as Rajasthan Royals held off the challenge of the Chennai Super Kings to record their fourth successive Indian Premier League victory on Sunday.

The opener’s man-of-the-match innings helped the Royals post 177 for eight at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera. While visiting opener Murali Vijay gave chase with a spirited 42, the Super Kings were restricted to 160 for six as the Royals won by 17 runs to stay third in the standings.
After opting to bat, the hosts blazed away at the start, but then lost momentum in the middle overs and suffered a disappointing finish to their innings. Opener Michael Lumb helped the Royals off to their flyer, smashing three boundaries and two sixes in an explosive 16-delivery stay. New-ball bowler Albie Morkel bore the brunt of that attack as his first two overs went for 30, but the South African had the last laugh when snaring Lumb with a slower delivery for 30.
Fellow opener Ojha then kept the run rate up and, together with Faiz Fazal (17), the pair helped leave the Royals nicely placed at the half-way stage. But left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati gave the Super Kings a toehold in the game by securing the wickets of Fazal and Yusuf Pathan in successive overs.
Ojha continued to hold steadfast and forged another partnership with Adam Voges, raising his half-century in the process. But his departure in the 18th over and Voges in the next left the Royals floundering and the home side finished on a chaotic note, losing three wickets in the final over, two of them to run outs.
In response, Matthew Hayden (19) sparked briefly at the start of the chase, but the innings gathered steam with Vijay’s assault. The opener tore into Sumit Narwal, smashing the medium pacer for two sixes and three boundaries in one over that yielded 24, but the Royals ploughed their way back with his dismissal.
Suresh Raina (14) made little impression, but Mahendra Singh Dhoni (21) and Subramaniam Badrinath (25) helped the Super Kings stay in touch with a 44-run stand and the match hung in the balance. But the Super Kings again wobbled with the run out of Dhoni after a mid-pitch collision with Badrinath for the second time in
the tournament.
While Morkel weighed in with a sizzling 28 which included three straight sixes off Shane Warne, the visitors still finished well short.