On a Tuesday night when young batters in both teams exhibited their effervescence, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, all of 14, walked away with the satisfaction of playing the most decisive hand. In an inconsequential IPL joust at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, the cherubic prodigy’s 33-ball 57, laced with four fours and sixes each, helped Rajasthan Royals cruise to a target of 188 with six wickets in hand.

It consigned bottom-placed Chennai Super Kings to its 10th defeat in an abject campaign. The youthful pair of Ayush Mhatre and Dewald Brevis had entertained with the bat for M.S. Dhoni’s men, but they were left to rue CSK’s batting effort fizzling out at the death. With Shivam Dube and Dhoni not effective in wielding the long handle, it managed only 28 runs off the final four overs.

In the chase, Yashasvi Jaiswal bruised Khaleel Ahmed in the third over, flaying the left-arm pacer predominantly through the off-side in a sequence that read 4, 4, 6, 4. Jaiswal also lofted Anshul Kamboj over mid-off for four soon after, but the medium-pacer had his way when the southpaw (36, 19b, 5×4, 2×6) swung across the line for his off-stump to be clattered. At this stage, Suryavanshi had faced just three deliveries for one run.

With Sanju Samson providing company, Suryavanshi then took charge in a 98-run alliance. Silken drives and ferocious pulls by the boy from Bihar were all part of the package.

AS IT HAPPENED – CSK vs RR

In a slight twist, R. Ashwin dismissed Samson and Suryavanshi in the space of four deliveries in the 14th over. A minor hiccup was all that it was as RR sauntered home with 17 balls to spare.

Earlier, CSK’s batting oscillated between the sublime and shambolic. Moments of pure brilliance came from the bats of Mhatre and Brevis even as CSK suffered another mini-collapse in the middle phase.

For RR, pacers Yudhvir Singh and Akash Madhwal claimed three wickets each.

With CSK reduced to 78 for five despite Mhatre’s initial onslaught, the onus of rebuilding fell on Brevis and Dube, who displayed their attacking zest and added 59 runs in six overs. Dhoni, welcomed to the sound of deafening roars and whistles, managed only one hit over the fence in a 17-ball 16.