Match overview
Rajasthan Royals beat Chennai Super Kings by 6 runs in an IPL T20 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati, on 30 March 2025. Rajasthan posted 182 for 9 from their 20 overs, driven by a powerplay of 79 runs for 1 wicket. Chennai gave chase with purpose and finished on 176 for 6, with 54 runs coming in the final five overs, but they could never quite claw back the deficit built in the first six. N Rana took the Player of the Match award. Chennai had won the toss and chose to field, following a pattern common at this ground, but for the third time in their last four meetings, Rajasthan had the last word.
The match turned on the powerplay contrast. Rajasthan's 79 runs inside six overs put them in a commanding position against a target they would set at 183. Chennai's reply started more cautiously, reaching 42 for 1 at the same stage. That 37-run gap in the first six overs effectively shaped the whole chase. The Super Kings' middle-overs phase was their strongest, 80 runs for 3 wickets between overs seven and fifteen, but it still left them needing more from the death than they could manage.
For Rajasthan, the middle overs cost them too: four wickets fell for 66 runs between overs seven and fifteen, and the death brought another four scalps for just 37. Had they batted through those phases more cleanly, the target might have been beyond Chennai entirely.
Venue and conditions
The Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati has hosted 25 T20 matches. Its average first-innings score sits at 188, marginally above what Rajasthan managed, which is a small but relevant detail: Rajasthan posted a below-par first-innings score by Barsapara's own standards. The average second-innings score of 164 tells a clearer story about how difficult sustained chasing can be here, and the ground's overall chase success rate of 46 per cent reinforces that.
The powerplay phase at this venue averages 47 runs, which makes Rajasthan's 79 in the powerplay a significant outlier. The average death-overs return across both innings here is 39 runs, so Chennai's 54 in the final five was also an above-average finish. Teams win at Barsapara more often by setting totals than by chasing, and that pattern held on 30 March.
Teams winning the toss have opted to field at a 73 per cent rate across this ground's 25 matches, and Chennai's decision to do exactly that felt logical. In the end, it was the ground's structural toss bias, rather than any tactical error, that contributed to a familiar outcome.
How to watch
IPL matches are available in the United Kingdom on Sky Sports Cricket, with live coverage also accessible through Sky Go for existing subscribers. Viewers without a Sky subscription can access individual matches or day passes via NOW TV. Sky's coverage typically includes pre-match analysis, live commentary, and post-match review for all IPL fixtures.
Recent form
Rajasthan came into this match having lost their two most recent IPL outings in 2025, going down to both Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad. Prior to that, their 2024 results were mixed: a win against Royal Challengers Bangalore sandwiched between losses to Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings. It is a patchy run of form, which makes this result more significant for them.
Chennai's recent record was similarly inconsistent. They had beaten Mumbai Indians in their previous 2025 match but lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore before that. Their 2024 results included a win over Rajasthan Royals, alongside defeats to Royal Challengers Bangalore and Gujarat Titans. Both sides came in needing a win, which may partly explain the intensity of the finish. Rajasthan's next fixture will be watched closely to see whether this result represents a turning point in their campaign, or whether the powerplay dominance here was specific to conditions at Guwahati.
