One of the fiercest contests in the annals of the IPL has been the one between the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings. The Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings history had started in the very first IPL when the Royals, by winning the first IPL trophy and conquering the Super Kings in the final, had sent ripples across the cricketing world. Throughout the tournament, the game has been bigger than two points – it’s that we always knew CSK are one of the best, most consistent sides in the IPL because of the leadership of MS Dhoni, and the Royals were the unknown challengers. The Royals have the history of unearthing raw talent and upsetting IPL’s giants.
Their meetings blend best tactics and best pressure with good entertainment, memorable performances, and results that are not always predictable. The timeline marks both the opportunities provided by the rival teams to shape iconic wins and losses, or especially controversial moments. This timeline also demonstrates how an a light showdown became a relic of the IPL history and legacy.
Early Encounters: 2008 to 2015
RR vs CSK, IPL 2008: It was in the 24another IPL match of the inaugural season of the Indian Premier League in 2008 that Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings first locked horns with each other. They faced each other at Jaipur, where the Rajasthan Royals were the victors winning by 8 wickets. What we sawSohail Tanvir provided a spell-binding bowling performance destroying CSK top order in powerplay. Rajasthan Royals won by 10 runs 49th match. Graeme Smith’s 91 off 51 worked out well for RR. The two teams met won all crunch final of the IPL 2008 that RR snatched from CSK by 3 wickets in Mumbai.
CSK vs RR, IPL 2009: Playing in East London, CSK and RR took on each other in a fierce game for game no. Chennai Super Kings won by 38 runs on the back of Suresh Raina’s 98 (55). The 37th match was played between the two teams at Kimberley. RR, put into bat, put on board a target of 141 for CSK. OPENER Matthew Hayden started CSK’s run chase with 48 and Subramaniam Badrinath took over and played through with 58 not out to guide his team through to a seven-wicket win.
CSK vs RR, IPL 2010: IPL 2010’s 24th match was played at Ahmedabad, where CSK took on RR. Rajasthan Royals won by 17 runs, powered by Naman Ojha’s 80 from 49 balls. By posting a score of 177 for the loss of four wickets, they held CSK to 160. In Game 32 of 2010, Csk scored 246 in which M Vijay led the team with 127 from 56 balls. It was the 94 off 55 by Naman Ojha, but RR were shot out for 223.
RR vs CSK, IPL 2011: The 43rd match of the 4th edition of the Indian Premier League was held in Chennai. Chennai Super Kings chased down 149 without breaking a sweat as they won by 8 wickets. The player of the match was Michael Hussey for his innings of 79*. Both sides were played at Jaipur in the 52nd match where Chennai Super Kings won by 63 runs. Asked to bat, CSK posted 196 for 3 before restricting RR to 133.
CSK vs RR, IPL 2012: In Match 26 of the season, RR opted to bat first and scored 146, which was chased down with ease by CSK on the back of Faf du Plessis’ 73. The 56th match between CSK and RR was a low-key affair. Batting first, RR managed 126… The chase went off to a worse start there when Murali Vijay ducked the team in; but cameos from the batsmen stretched the game and got them through the innings.
CSK vs RR, IPL 2013: The 30th match of IPL 2013 was held in Chennai, where Chennai Super Kings emerged victorious by 5 wickets courtesy Michael Hussey scoring 88, which actually helped CSK to chase the total of 186. Still, there was an iconic century from Shane Watson of RR. 2013 Match 61 Two dominant teams clash, RR v CSK in Jaipur. RR, using home conditions, won by 5 wickets. After bowling out CSK for 141, RR chased down the target of 144 in 17.1 overs with 5 wickets in hand.
RR vs CSK, IPL 2014: The teams faced off in Dubai in the 10th match of the season, with Chennai Super Kings emerging victorious by 7 runs. CSK had batted first and made 140, while the RR batters imploded in response, scoring only 133. Ravindra Jadeja 4-wicket haul was the best performer of CSK. In the next match against them, Chennai Super Kings won by 5 wickets, Smith scoring 44 off 35 balls to help the chase.
RR vs CSK, IPL 2015: The sides clashed in game 15 and Rajasthan Royals beat Chennai Super Kings by 8 wickets. CSK had batted first, and were all out for 156. RR reached 179/2, thanks to Ajinkya Rahane’s 76 not out and visiting team’s Shane Watson’s 73, to win in the second ball of the 20th over with 8 balls to spare. Brendon McCullum had pulled of a 12-run victory with 81 runs in the 47th match. Ravindra Jadeja four-wicket and it was an equally important contribution in the victory.
2016 to Recent Encounters
RR vs CSK, IPL 2018: Relive CSK’s 64-run win 17th match of IPL 2018 feature CSK and RR. CSK won with former player Shane Watson having scored a century. The two teams took on each other at Jaipur for their 43rd match. Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 95 helped Rajasthan Royals register a 4 wicket victory.
CSK vs RR, IPL 2019: MS Dhoni’s 75*(46 balls) helped Chennai Super Kings beat RR by 8 runs in the 12th game of the season. In the 25th match, CSK defeated by the RR by 4 wickets. Then once again MS Dhoni finished it off for CSK, and this time it was his batting dominating with 58 runs.
RR vs CSK, IPL 2020: CSK took on RR in Sharjah in the 4th match of this year. Opting to bat, RR posted 216 for 7. CSK entered to bat in the second innings and managed to score 200 with the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs. Faf du Plessis came up with the goods with the bat with his 72 but CSK ended up on the losing side. The 37th match saw CSK take on RR in Abu Dhabi. Jos Buttler guided the chase for RR with an unbeaten 70 as they romped home by 7 wickets with 15 balls to spare.
CSK vs RR, IPL 2021: CSK and RR faced off in the 12th match of IPL 2021 with Chennai Super Kings securing a 45-run win over Rajasthan Royals. Put in to bat, Chennai Super Kings managed 188. RR, with Jos Butler (49) at the helm, were skittled out for 143. Moeen Ali and got 3 wickets and he bowled out David Miller and Riyan Parag at the scores of 2 and 3 runs and he also bowled out Chris Morris without opening his account. Rajasthan Royals chased down 47th game by 7 wickets with 15 balls to spare, despite Ruturaj Gaikwad’s unbeaten hundred for CSK.
RR vs CSK, IPL 2022: The 68th match of the season was played between CSK and RR in Mumbai. Rajasthan Royals won the match by 5 wickets with 2 balls remaining. CSK limped back to the pavilion at 150, advantage Moeen Ali (93) behind the contribution. Rajasthan Royals chased 151 in 19.4 overs, losing 5 wickets.
RR vs CSK, IPL 2023: CSK took on RR in the 27th game of the season. It was an exciting match as RR batted first and set a score of 175. CSK took the field and were poised to chase 202, but were bowled out for 172 to lose the match by 3 runs. RR won the 37th game by 32 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal scoring 77. They defended 170 runs against CSK.
CSK vs RR IPL 2024: Both faced-off in Chennai for the 61st match. Asserting their dominance in home conditions, the CSK team emerged as winners with an over and four balls to spare. Simarjeet Singh scalped 3 wickets after removing Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson, out- top order batters. So he was given the player of the match.
RR vs CSK, IPL 2025:: RR batted first in the 11th match and scored a total of 182 while batting, hence they reached a target of 183 for CSK. CSK, who were captained by Rituraj Gaikwad (63), collapsed at 176. Next time they met each other, CSK set a good score of 187, which was chased down by Royals for 188 in 17.1 overs, 4 down. Player-of-the-match was Akash Madhwal for his 3-wicket haul.
