RR won the match by a narrow margin of six runs.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) survived a late scare to defeat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by six runs in Guwahati. But their decision-making at the death raised plenty of questions. Most notably, why Jofra Archer didn’t bowl the final over, or even the penultimate one.
With CSK needing 39 off 12 balls and MS Dhoni still at the crease, Archer, who had bowled an excellent opening spell of 3-1-13-1—including the wicket of Rachin Ravindra—was expected to close things out. But RR went with Tushar Deshpande, who leaked 19 runs. That left 20 required off the final over. Still, Archer wasn’t brought back. Instead, Sandeep Sharma was handed the ball.
He got the job done—just. Dhoni skied a catch off the second ball (the first was a wide). Although Jamie Overton struck a six later in the over, Sandeep held on to seal the win.
Explaining the decision on JioHotstar post-match, Ambati Rayudu said, “I think Sandeep Sharma has bowled a similar over to MS Dhoni before. That might have played a role in RR giving Sandeep the ball. He’s been their go-to death bowler for a while. He’s very, very experienced. His yorker dips on the batsman. It’s very difficult to put it away.”
In the 2023 IPL season, Sandeep had bowled and closed out a game vs CSK by restricting MS Dhoni. With 21 runs needed off six balls, Sandeep conceded two sixes to Dhoni off the second and third ball. But then went on to bowl three brilliant balls to Dhoni and Jadeja, restricting them to just singles, as RR won by three runs. The final ball needed Dhoni to score a six to win the game. But Sandeep nailed his yorker to save the game for Rajasthan.
That said, the overall stats paint a different picture. Since the start of IPL 2023, Sandeep has bowled 28.5 overs in the death phase, conceding runs at 10.75 per over—the 18th best economy among bowlers who have bowled at least 10 overs in that period.
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Jofra Archer, by contrast, has a career death-overs economy rate of 8.99—elite by IPL standards. The only drawback: Archer had conceded 63 runs in 3.3 overs in the death in the first two matches of IPL 2025.
On the night, Archer looked back at his best. But Rajasthan went with Sandeep’s experience—and got away with it. Whether the same choice would work against Dhoni on another day remains debatable.
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