Jadeja, McCullum lift Super Kings to No.1

Chennai Super Kings almost confirmed themselves in the playoffs with a comfortable 12-run win against Rajasthan Royals that took them to the top of the table with 16 points. They still have two games at hand. Royals, on the other hand, were now placed precariously, needing a win from their last league game against Kolkata Knight Riders to qualify.

The positions the teams were in the table had an air of "I told you so", so had the pattern the game followed after Super Kings decided to bat on a sluggish pitch. The batsmen generally struggled for timing but Brendon McCullum, the only batsman to make a half-century in the match, braved the sapping heat to set up Super Kings for another sub-160 total. Then Ravindra Jadeja picked a bagful of wickets after a 15-day barren spell to derail Royals' chase.

It hasn't been a high-scoring season in Chennai this year. The home team batted first in each game, but only twice were able to go past 160. Still, such has been their control on this ground that except Mumbai Indians, no one else was able to breach the target.

After the early losses of Dwayne Smith and Suresh Raina, McCullum played an innings slightly out of character: it did not feature all-out aggression. He would hit a six, a boundary, then go back to nurdle the ball in the gaps. And such was the necessity, too, as the ball did not come onto the bat. That he found success was not surprising, his fast hands allowing him to generate pace on the ball.

McCullum reached his half-century, his third 50-plus score this season, in 44 balls despite five fours and two sixes. The run-rate at that stage - the 13th over - hovered just above six an over. Despite fatigue setting in, he ensured Super Kings accelerated by picking up 31 more runs in the next 17 balls.

He also had an able ally in Faf du Plessis with whom he added 101 runs for the third wicket. By the time he was dismissed, in the 18th over, the score had swelled to 132. MS Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo then pushed it to 157 with late hitting.

Royals knew they needed runs early on before the onset of spin. Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson started well, but once Mohit Sharma had Rahane top edge a pull, Royals' innings lost steam. Jadeja, then, ran through the middle order in a spell that read 4-0-11-4, the highlight being the gravity-defying catch by Bravo at the long-on boundary.

Royals were left needing 65 to win from the last five overs. There were a few flashes of aggression from Sanju Samson, but the team slowly caved in to fall well short. With only one left-hander in the Royals XI, that too at No. 10, Dhoni did not even feel the need to use R Ashwin at all. It was only the second time in Ashwin's 116-match career with Super Kings that he did not bowl a single ball, the first instance being his debut game in 2009.

The loss was Royals' first under Steven Smith's captaincy this year.