PremiumCCL 2025 Day 4: Match 8 Chennai Rhinos clinch crucial win against the Telugu Warriors; keep hopes alive in tournament
CCL 2025 Day 4: Match 8 After 2 losses, the Chennai Rhinos recorded their first win of Season 11, defeating the Telugu Warriors on their home ground
Last Updated: 12.44 AM, Feb 16, 2025
On a high after their win against the Bhojpuri Dabanggs on home ground, the Telugu Warriors headed out for the second match of the week; this time to face the Chennai Rhinos. Warriors skipper had big bro Naga Chaitanya for company in the dug-out, with the Thandel-star eager to watch Akhil in action. This was, however, not the day on which Akhil would come out all guns blaring; not only did the skipper fail to get the runs ticking, but the team failed to chase down 115 runs, giving the Chennai Rhinos their first win of the tournament.
Also read: CCL 2025 Day 3: Match 6 Telugu Warriors successfully defend low target against Bhojpuri Dabanggs
Vikranth won the toss and decided to bat first, a decision that seemed to have immediately backfired when the Rhinos lost not one but two wickets in the very first over. But with skipper Vikranth still around, he led the recovery, first along with Ajay Rohan, but then with Dasarathi, whose explosive 35 from 14 helped them get to 125 for the loss of 3 in their first 10 overs. Dasarathi and Vikranth (61) remained unbeaten.
The Telugu Warriors had a very similar start, losing skipper Akhil and Aadarsh in the first over the match. It seemed that Ashwin and Sachin would steer them out of trouble, but then the former got out, giving Sharan his third wicket of the match. Sachin Joshi barely managed not to be Sharan’s fourth victim but fell after scoring 18. It was Roshan who remained unfazed even as he lost partners and got the team out of trouble with a knock of 73 from 33 balls, which helped the Warriors get to 106 for the loss of 6, 19 short of the target.
The Rhinos returned for their second innings and got off to a decent start with openers Prithvi and Ajay, but then the latter got run out with the score at 47 and thereafter, they weren’t really able to maintain the same momentum. They lost 7 more wickets 5 of which came while the score went from 78 to 82, and, finally, all that the Rhinos could muster was a total of 87. Prior to the last over, there was a long break in play when the Rhinos raised an objection that the Warriors had an extra fielder on ground, which was verified. But all that noise did not really help the Rhinos’ casuse.
When the Warriors then came out to begin the chase of the target of 115, their top order crumbled, following which, Akhil tried to take charge. A top score of 27, though, was not going to cut it and even though Sachin also added the exact same number of runs, they ran out of steam. The Warriors are now tied at 2 points with the Bhojpuri Dabangss and the Rhinos and based on the results of the last group stage matches, and the net run rate, it will become clear as to who will head to the semi-finals on March 1.
On February 16, CCL moves to Cuttack, where Punjab De Sher will play the Bhojpuri Dabanggs and then, the Mumbai Heroes will take on the Bengal Tigers. All matches are streamed live on JioHotstar and are also available on Sony Sports Ten 3.