Shane Watson took 2 for 21 and scored 74 as Rajasthan beat Delhi by three wickets...Shane Watson first used the uneven bounce of the Jaipur pitch to keep the Delhi Daredevils in check and then acted as if it didn't exist to bludgeon 74 off 40 balls and maintain the Rajasthan Royals' 100% record at home.
Shane Warne's strategy of winning the toss, inserting the opposition in and restricting them to a total that his batsmen then chase with ease is getting predictable. But it's also what is keeping the Rajasthan Royals at the top of the points table, with their seventh win of the tournament coming against a side that struggled to match them on the field on Sunday night.
Though Delhi fought hard to defend their total, the match was more or less decided in the first innings when Rajasthan's bowlers checked the run-scoring to the extent that Delhi didn't hit a six till the 18th over. Watson was the first to inject doubt and uneasiness in to the Delhi openers' minds when he used the short ball to repeatedly beat their bats. Gautam Gambhir leaned out to reach for one that lifted from back of a length and swished wildly in the air. Virender Sehwag's attempted pull off another short one from Watson narrowly missed the edge.
Munaf Patel varied his length and bowled to his field to choke the runs during the middle overs. Siddharth Trivedi managed to get movement off the seam and troubled Gambhir before knocking over his off stump. Dimitri Mascarenhas, who went for 12 runs in his first over, came back in his second spell to get the wickets of AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik in the same over. He finished with figures of 4-0-29-2 in his only IPL match this season and completely justified his selection.
Rajasthan's fielders lent excellent support to the bowlers, cutting off singles and saving boundaries. Watson reduced a certain four to two runs after de Villiers stroked the ball through extra cover. Watson, fielding at mid-on, ran sideways towards the ball, threw himself towards the ball and got his left hand around it just before it raced past him. Even Munaf, one of the more sluggish fielders in the Indian side, was in the thick of things, trying to throw down the stumps and diving to save runs.
In contrast Delhi's fielders were sloppy and inaccurate. Graeme Smith was dropped in the first over when he was yet to score, Watson when he was on 26. The two went on to add 71 runs that pretty much took the game away from Delhi.
But it hadn't looked all that easy for Rajasthan before. They had done well to restrict Delhi to 109 for 6 in 16 overs but Farveez Maharoof and Tillakaratne Dilshan broke free to add 47 in the final three. Then as Maharoof and Glenn McGrath made use of the uneven bounce in the first five overs, Rajasthan struggled to score and lost two wickets with only 15 on the board. The openers were repeatedly beaten off the pitch and Smith, perhaps jittery in the search for runs, sent back Yusuf Pathan from taking a single. But de Villiers, running in from mid-off and diving full length, hit the stumps before Yusuf could get back in. In the next over Smith tapped the ball to midwicket and took for a run but Mohammad Kaif was watching the ball, rooted to his spot and was dismissed for one.
However once Watson came to the crease, the pitch became a non-issue and both he and Smith targeted the younger Delhi bowlers for their runs. Watson pulled Yo Mahesh for a six over square leg and then slogged the same bowler for a four over long-on. In his next over, Watson shuffled across the stumps and lofted the ball over long-off before driving down the ground. Smith went after Pradeep Sangwan - pulling him masterfully for a four to midwicket. He finally fell to a blinding catch by Yo Mahesh at deep midwicket when he tried to slog legspinner Amit Mishra for a six. At first, Watson played Mishra cautiously by getting forward and defending but in his third over, Watson took him for 15 runs.
There were a few tense moments in the end for Rajasthan. Wickets continued to fall at the other end but Watson was well-set when Niraj Patel called for a risky single and then sent Watson back to the non-striker's end. Delhi, desperate for a wicket, took a shy at the stumps and an overthrow followed. Watson and Patel decided to take a run and this time, Watson had to dive to get to the crease. Delhi appealed but square-leg umpire Steve Davis turned it down. However Sehwag persisted with umpire Rudi Koertzen and it was finally referred to the third umpire who gave it out. Rajasthan needed seven of 10 balls but Mahesh Rawat finished it off with five to spare.
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