Guwahati, March 30 Rajasthan Royals effectively utilized the overcast conditions to bowl out a struggling Chennai Super Kings for 127 in their Indian Premier League opener here on Monday.
It was a forgettable batting performance for CSK, who were put in to bat by Riyan Parag, considering the pitch had been under cover for a while due to rain.
Both CSK and the Royals, the two bottom-placed teams last season, had traded their star players, Ravindra Jadeja and Sanju Samson, ahead of the season.
It was a successful return to the Royals for Jadeja, who struck twice in his opening over.
Samson, the star of India's T20 World Cup triumph, could not perform well on his CSK debut. While attempting to dispatch Nandre Burger over mid-wicket, he saw his off-stump dislodged by a sharp delivery that turned away.
Both Nandre and Jofra Archer were able to get the ball to turn in the powerplay.
After Nandre got rid of Samson, Archer sent back CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad who attempted an aerial stroke on the off-side, but his stumps were rattled.
Burger got a hat-trick in the second over after surprising Ayush Mhatre with a bouncer that kissed the batter's gloves on its way to the keeper.
Jadeja was introduced in the eighth over. He dismissed Sarfaraz Khan (17 off 12) with the latter missing a slog sweep, while another Indian World Cup star Shivam Dube (6 off 4) failed to clear long-off four balls later, leaving CSK at 57-6 in eight overs.
CSK could not find a way back from there despite a handy effort from Jamie Overton (43 off 36).
Royals' medium pacer Brijesh Sharma dismissed Kartik Sharma on his debut.
Archer, Burger and Jadeja each ended with a couple of wickets.
