The Australian opener says he purposefully attacked Chennai’s danger-man.
Rajasthan Royals opening batsman Shane Watson says that the franchise instinctively targeted the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin during their impressive IPL win over Chennai Super Kings.
Watson admits that Ashwin had been highlighted as Chennai’s most dangerous bowler and that the side decided to attack him as a result.
The Australian hit 70 runs off 34 balls as Rajasthan chased down the 142 target set by CSK and it was one over from Ashwin that changed the course of the match.
The Super Kings’ seamers had the Royals in a tight corner and needing 93 runs off 60 balls, before Ashwin came into bowl and Watson and Stuart Binny smashed the spinner for 23 runs off his six balls.
The opener said that this attacking style of play was something that came as an instinct to the batsmen when their team desperately needed runs.
“We knew instinctively that Ashwin was going to be someone we have to really try and score runs off,” the 31-year-old told iplt20.com.
“It just worked out nicely that Ashwin came on and bowled a couple of balls that we were looking for. In the end I suppose it was about batting on instinct.”
The win for Rajasthan puts them level on points with leaders Chennai with just two matches left to play and the franchise’s lead of four points over fourth and fifth effectively books their place in the play-offs.
Watson has been in fine form with the bat and his 483 runs puts him fourth in the Orange Cap standings for most runs in the tournament.
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