The Hindu : Sport : Rajasthan Royals scampers home

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Rajasthan Royals scampers home

With two defeats in a row Deccan seems to be running out of charge

— PHOTO: AFP

OVER THE MOON: Abhishek Raut exults after guiding Rajasthan Royals home against Deccan Chargers.

Port Elizabeth: Rajasthan Royals made a remarkable recovery from a top order slump to beat Deccan Chargers’ by three-wickets in a thrilling Indian Premier League match here on Saturday.

Royals registered its third victory from seven matches to put its title defence back on track, while the Deccan Chargers slumped to its second consecutive defeat.

Chasing a modest 142-run target, Rajasthan Royals rode on useful contributions from its lower middle order, especially young Abhishek Raut (36 off 23) to scamper home in 19.4 overs after it was tottering at three for three early on in the match.

Opting to bat, Adam Gilchrist (39) started the Chargers’ innings on a blistering note, picking up 27 runs of the first three overs.

Rohit Sharma (38) and T. Suman (41) stitched a crucial 59-run stand for the fourth wicket to guide Deccan Chargers to 141 for five.

Disastrous start

Royals started its innings on a disastrous note as it lost three quick wickets by the end of the second over.

Graeme Smith’s misery with the bat continued as he fell without troubling the scorers in the second ball off Fidel Edwards’ opening over, caught at third man by Shoaib Ahmed.

Swanpil Asnodkar was run out by Gibbs in the very next ball and then Naman Ojha added more worries for the Royals when he gave a straight forward catch to Gibbs at point off R.P. Singh.

However, Queenslander Lee Carseldine in the company of young Ravindra Jadeja added 51 runs in 7.1 overs for the fourth wicket to set the tone for the run chase.

Carseldine showed why offence is the best form of defence as he brought the Royals’ chase back on track, hitting six fours his 32-ball 39.

The bowling change in the 10th over did the trick for Chargers as Venugopal Rao (2 for 23) broke the partnership, picking up both Jadeja and Carseldine’s in a span of four balls to see the defending champion struggle at 60 for five at the halfway mark.

Cameo

However, skipper Shane Warne (21) had other plans. Needing 74 off 54 balls he hoiked Rao over long on for a six and then added another after the bowler dropped an easy chance of his own bowling in his previous delivery. Raut finished off the over with a cheeky four to take 17 runs of the eventful 12th over.

Pragyan Ojha ended Warne’s cameo with Gilchrist easily pouncing on to a skier.

Dangerous Yusuf Pathan (24 off 14) struck two back-to-back sixes of Shaoib Mohammad in the 15th over.

Anti-climax

With 11 runs needing off 13 balls, the game witnessed another anti-climax when Pathan got out, trying another big hit, caught by Gibbs off R.P. Singh.

But Raut and Shane Harwood (3) ensured no further worries for the Royals bringing it home with two balls to spare. — PTI

SCOREBOARD

Deccan Chargers: H. Gibbs lbw b Yusuf 8 (10b, 1x4), A. Gilchrist c Yusuf b Jadeja 39 (35b, 2x6, 5x4), A. Bilakhia c Trivedi b Harwood 1 (5b), Rohit c Warne b Trivedi 38 (32b, 2x6, 2x4), T. Suman (not out) 41 (30b, 1x6, 2x4), D. Smith c Warne b Harwood 7 (8b, 1x4), Venugopala Rao (not out) 0; Extras (lb-3, w-4) 7. Total (for five wkts. in 20 overs): 141.

Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-35, 3-58, 4-117, 5-135.

Rajasthan Royals bowling: Yusuf 4-0-19-1, Munaf 2-0-23-0, Jadeja 4-0-22-1, Harwood 4-0-25-2, Warne 3-0-29-0, Raut 1-0-7-0, Trivedi 2-0-13-1.

Rajasthan Royals: G. Smith c Shoaib b Edwards 0 (2b), S. Asnodkar (run out) 0 (1b), L. Carseldine lbw b Venugopala Rao 39 (32b, 6x4), N. Ojha c Gibbs b R.P. Singh 0 (6b), R. Jadeja c Smith b Venugopala Rao 12 (17b, 1x6), S. Warne c Gilchrist b Ojha 21 (17b, 2x6), A. Raut (not out) 36 (23b, 4x4), Yusuf c Gibbs b R.P. Singh 24 (14b, 2x6, 2x4), S. Harwood (not out) 3 (7b); Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-3, nb-1) 7. Total (for seven wkts. in 19.4 overs): 142.

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-1, 3-3, 4-54, 5-57, 6-93, 7-131.

Deccan Chargers bowling: Edwards 3.4-0-17-1, R.P. Singh 4-1-18-2, Smith 2-0-21-0, Rohit 2-0-14-0, Ojha 4-0-27-1, Venugopala Rao 2-0-23-2, Shoaib 2-0-19-0.

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