Four overs from Muttiah Muralitharan could not shake Rajasthan Royals' resolve as Shane Warne's men put together a challenging 177-8 with huge help from opener Naman Ojha.
One over from Warne and his instinctive decisions, smart fielding from Yusuf Pathan and clever bowling at the death by Siddharth Trivedi were enough to sink Chennai Super Kings in DLF IPL-3. The visitors were pegged down to 160-6 in 20 overs and the home team sneaked home by 17 runs on the strength of teamwork at the Motera Stadium.
The RR captain deceived Suresh Raina with a slower one. Pathan's catch with an outstretched hand to send back CSK's hard-hitting opener Matthew Hayden was just the sort of inspiration the team needed.
Luck favoured Warne when his counterpart M.S. Dhoni got run out after a collision in mid-pitch with partner S. Badrinath, but winners create their own luck. Trivedi mixed up his deliveries in the closing overs to beat desperate swings from batsmen for 4-0-18-0. Albie Morkel swung three sixes to force a change in Warne mood, but RR was again celebrating at the end.
Stroke-filled knock
Warne boasts of young players rising to the occasion every game. Ojha put his hand up to be counted for a stroke-filled 80 off 49 balls. The opener played a typical T20 knock, laced with six fours and five sixes, creating space for shots against spin and using pace off the wicket for runs when fast bowlers came on.
Pathan's stunning one-handed catch in follow-through to dismiss Hayden appeared to be an indication of the off-spinner's fierce intent.
He followed it up with a swift pick-up and throw on the turn to run out Murali Vijay (42 runs, 28 balls) even as the opener was in a menacing mood. Warne led the way with a clever change of pace to dismiss Raina.
Then, CSK suffered a shocking body blow. The two batsmen collided going for the second, Voges's throw left Dhoni struggling to recover balance and reach in time.
On the backfoot
Chennai was on the backfoot right from the start as the Royals openers Michael Lumb and Ojha fed on pace off the wicket and attacking anything with range. Lumb was in murderous mood, starting with a six over mid-wicket off Morkel before deceived by a slower ball.
Ojha was not to be left behind, confidently stepping out for cover drive and rocking back for a delicate late-cut. Dhoni brought Muralitharan in the third over, slow bowlers Joginder Sharma and Suresh Raina came on later in an attempt to make the batsmen work for runs.
Little impact
Murali's reputation made little impact on Royals batsmen. Lumb greeted the Lankan with a sweep in the first over, Ojha got under one ball and swung it over mid-wicket for a six in second, lashed his second six off Raina over log-on and swept a third six off Murali over the square-leg fielder. RR was coasting along at 86-1 at the first time out. Pathan walked out to a roar from the crowd, returned to the dressing room without doing any big damage.
Jakati (2-32) impressed for the second match in a row. Like he had done against Mumbai Indians, the CSK left-arm spinner put the brakes on scoring straightaway, bringing down the run-rate from 96 in 10 overs to 123 by the 15th.
The scores:
Rajasthan Royals: M. Lumb c Thushara b Morkel 30 (15b, 3x4, 2x6) , N. Ojha c Joginder b Thushara 80 (49b, 6x4, 5x6) , F. Fazal c Vijay b Jakati 17 (18b, 1x4) , Y. Pathan c Raina b Jakati 8 (6b, 1x4) , A. Voges c Muralitharan b Morkel 20 (19b, 1x4) , A. Jhunjhunwala c Vijay b Thushara 11 (6b, 2x4) , P. Dogra run out 5 (3b, 1x4) , S. Narwal (not out) 2 (2b) , S. Warne run out 0 (0b) , S. Tait (not out) 1 (1b) ; Extras (lb-1, w-2) 3. Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs) 177.
Fall of wkts.: 1-47, 2-100, 3-117, 4-155, 5-162, 6-174, 7-174, 8-175.
Chennai Super Kings bowling: Morkel 4-0-46-2, Thushara 4-0-28-2, Murali 4-0-34-0, Joginder 2-0-23-0, Raina 2-0-15-0, Jakati 4-0-30-2.
Chennai Super Kings: M. Vijay run out 42 (28b, 4x4, 2x6) , M. Hayden c & b Pathan 19 (14b, 1x4, 1x6) , S. Raina b Warne 14 (12b, 1x4) , M. Dhoni run out 21 (19b, 2x4) , S. Badrinath c Pathan b Tait 25 (26b, 2x4) , A. Morkel c Fazal b Tait 28 (12b, 1x4, 3x6) , A. Karthik (not out) 3 (5b) , T. Thushara (not out) 2 (3b) ; Extras (lb-3, w-3) 5. Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs) 160.
Fall of wkts: 1-24, 2-75, 3-79, 4-123, 5-151, 6-155
Rajasthan Royals bowling: .Pathan 4-0-26-1, Narwal 3-0-49-0, Tait 4-0-22-2, Warne 4-0-34-1, Trivedi 4-0-18-0, Voges 1-0-8-0.
Clarification
The last paragraph the above was “Jakati (2-32) impressed for the second match in a row”, while the scoreboard/bowling column gave it as 2-30. The scoreboard is right.
