IPL 5: Deccan end Rajasthan hopes of playoff spot

An all-round performance helped the bottom-ranked Deccan Chargers to thrash Rajasthan Royals by five wickets and put them out of contention for the playoffs on Friday.

For Deccan Akshath Reddy top scored with 42 runs and with some valuable contributions from JP Duminy (24) and Shikhar Dhawan (26) in the middle overs. Although Rajasthan had some hope of defending their modest total of 126 after some quick wickets but Parthiv Patel and Ashish Reddy saw Deccan through without any further hiccups. Rajasthan’s Siddharth Trivedi took two wickets, while Johan Botha, Ajit Chandila and Stuart Binny chipped in with a wicket each.

Coming on for the chase, Deccan openers Dhawan and Reddy gave their team a great start from the first over itself. Going by the slow nature of the track, Dravid decided to start the proceedings with Chandila but the tall legspinner went for 11 runs which included a six and a four.

The runs kept coming thick and fast for Deccan as Rajasthan looked for their first breakthrough and that time came in the 9th over when Dhawan was dismissed by Botha for 26. But the wicket came tad too late for Rajasthan when Deccan were on course to an easy win with wickets in hand. But two quick wickets in the form of Reddy (42) and Cameron White (1) in successive overs brought Rajasthan back into the game.

These two wickets somehow applied brakes on their scoring rate and the wicket of Chris Lynn in the 16th over brightened Rajasthan’s chance of sneaking in a win with Deccan requiring 23 runs off 24 balls.

Earlier, Rajasthan skipper Rahul Dravid won the toss and opted to bat and this decision of his backfired as his team managed to put up a modest score of 126 for 8. The pitch had purchase for both spinners and the seamers and they made good use of the conditions.

In a crucial match like this where Rajasthan are fighting to stay alive for the playoff failed to read the pitch and kept losing wickets at regular intervals that hampered their chance of putting up a decent total on the board.

Dravid was the leading scorer with 39 off 36 balls, which included five hits to the fence while Owais Shah (28) and Ashok Menaria (20) made useful contribution. The Deccan spinners were getting grip and turn from the track, especially Amit Mishra (2 for 20) who scalped Shane Watson (13) in his first ball and returned to get rid of Stuart Binny (7) off two ripper of deliveries.

After getting a reprieve, Ajinkya Rahane (6) failed to capitalise as Dale Steyn (2 for 16) got the ball to swing away a bit to induce an edge of Rahane to the wicketkeeper. With regular wickets Deccan managed to keep Rajasthan under check and the visiting team was happy with singles and twos. With Dravid and Shah at the crease, Rajasthan still had hope but Dravid charged Manpreet Gony and slashed hard over point to hand an easy catch to the fielder.

IPL 5: CSK beat RR to remain in playoffs hunt

With 43 runs needed to win from the final four overs, Albie Morkel and Anirudha Srikkanth played some sensational shots to pull the match from under the noses of Rajasthan Royals to earn Chennai Super Kings a much needed four-wicket win with 11 balls to spare.

Chasing 127-run target, Chennai lost wickets at regular intervals and looked in trouble as they were tottering at 84 for 6 at one stage. However, Anirudha and Albie changed the gear for the visitors and tore apart the Australian duo of Shane Watson and Shaun Tait to notch up the required runs in 18.1 overs. By virtue of this win, CSK moved up to the fourth position in the standings with 13 points from as many games, while Rajasthan have slipped to the sixth spot with 12 points from 13 games.

Chennai lost opener Vijay for nought in the very first over. Suresh Raina (23 off 17) played a cameo before he was caught by Ajinkya Rahane off Pankaj Singh. Once Raina departed, Rajasthan looked to claw back into the match with quick wickets. Needing 30 off the last three overs, Morkel and Anirudha scored identical six-ball 18 and stitched undefeated 43 runs for the seventh wicket to guide CSK to the vital win.

Earlier, a brilliant opening spell from Ben Hilfenhaus proved key as Chennai restricted the Rajasthan to 126 for 6. Hilfenhaus scalped two vital wickets of Rajasthan skipper Rahul Dravid and Shane Watson early during his breathtaking opening spell of four overs which yielded just eight runs.

Put into bat, Rajasthan's innings was halted by rain just one ball into the match. There were 55 minutes lost due to on-off drizzle. Once they did get going, only one delivery was possible, before the rain returned and once play resumed, Hilfenhaus struck to remove captain Dravid, miscuing a pull to Michael Hussey at mid-off.

Then Watson was brilliantly caught by a diving R Ashwin at the third-man boundary as the batsman went for a huge heave over square-leg only to get a leading edge. Ajinkya Rahane, dropped on 14 by Suresh Raina atfirst slip, lost his patience after facing 22 deliveries and top-edged Mahesh to Ashwin at mid-on for 17. Rajasthan slipped to 43 for 3 in the ninth over.

Stuart Binny, however, tried to force a comeback with a fierce counter-attack and thrashed Dwayne Bravo for two boundaries and a six to pick up 18 runs off his opening over. But Binny (27) then fell when he pulled Mahesh to Raina at short midwicket, before Johan Botha (12) and Hodge combined for a 32-run fifth-wicket stand. For Rajasthan, Hilfenhaus and Yo Mahesh bagged two wickets each.

IPL 5: Watson powers Rajasthan to big win over Pune

 

Pune: Riding on a splendid unbeaten 90 from Shane Watson, Rajasthan Royals notched up a seven-wicket win over Pune Warriors India with 22 balls to go at the Sahara Subrato Roy Stadium on Tuesday.

Watson was fluent and looked at ease in his 51-ball 90 which was studded with 10 fours and four sixes. Wayne Parnell, Michael Clarke and Bhubaneshwar Kumar claimed a wicket each.

Chasing a modest target of 126, Rajasthan lost in-form Ajinkya Rahane (0) in the second over off Wayne Parnell caught at backward point where Steve Smith took a brilliant diving catch.

The new ball was doing a bit earlier on and Rahul Dravid struggled to connect, but with Shane Watson got a good partnership going before falling to a slower ball off Parnell caught at covers by Clarke. Dravid scored a 16-ball 14 which included two hits to the boundary.

Then Watson took charge and stitched in a 56-run stand with youngster Ashok Menaria to take Rajasthan close to win. But when Menaria fell in 13.4 over, Rajasthan were 105 and after that Watson ensured no further hiccups. 

Earlier, Pune Warriors' skipper, Sourav Ganguly won the toss and elected to bat and managed only 125 for 6.

Right from the start, Pune batsmen struggled to score freely as Rajasthan bowlers maintained a tight line and length. Anustup Majumdar making his IPL debut scored a quickfire 30 off 20 balls, which included one four and two sixes. Even their man in crisis, Smith was unable to accelerate the scoring and got 18 off 22 balls.

For Rajasthan, Shaun Tait was the pick of the bowlers and returned with figures of 3 for 13, while Johan Botha and Stuart Binny chipped in with one wicket each.

However, Ganguly's bad run with the bat continued as the former India captain failed to revive the batsman of the old and scored 14 off 18 balls. While Clarke on the other hand looked scratchy and could not survive for long before he fell to Binny leg before for 16.

IPL 5: Rajasthan thump Punjab to stay alive

Rajasthan Royals produced an all-round show as they thumped Kings XI Punjab by 43 runs to end their four-match losing streak in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday. Chasing 178 for a win, KXIP were in the game only for a brief while when opener Shaun Marsh (34) was going great guns with some lusty hits but once he was out in the ninth over it was all over for the home side as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

Chasing a competitive 178, Punjab got off to shaky start losing opener Mandeep Singh in the second over to Shane Watson. Marsh then up the ante with some big shots but soon Punjab lost their skipper David Hussey and Punjab were reduced to 55 for 3 in eight overs. But just when Marsh looked settled, Johan Botha unleashed a peach of a delivery to clean bowled the left-hander. 

Azhar Mahmood and Gurkeerat Singh tried to stabilise the innings but with the run-rate rising with every passing over, Punjab's defeat looked inevitable and the home team managed 134 for 8 in their allotted overs.

Earlier, the Rajasthan Royals compiled a challenging 177 for 6 in their IPL encounter with the Punjab. Skipper Rahul Dravid crafted a classy 46 and was ably complimented by Shane Watson, Ashok Menaria and Brad Hodge. Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Dravid lost his opening partner Ajinkya Rahane (5) in the second over, as he was caught behind off Ryan Harris' second ball.

Dravid and the powerful Shane Watson then shared a 71-run stand, with Watson scoring 36 off just 17 balls, including two massive sixes. But the legspinner scalped him, as he was caught in the deep by Harris. Dravid then follwed back to the pavilion in the fourteenth over. Dravid hit eight four in his 39-ball innings. He had added 41 with Menaria (34) for the third wicket before he took long walk back. Maneria carried on the tempo with some lusty hits. He was though lucky as he was dropped near the boundary by Mandeep Singh. He was eventually in the 16th over and became Chawla's second victim.

Brad Hodge then played a cameo of 36 off 23 balls, with a pair of sixes and fours. Johan Botha chipped in with a couple of fours himself, as Rajasthan set a testing target. Harris, however, had the last laugh as he claimed Hodge's wicket in the final over. For Punjab, Ryan Harris and Piyush Chawla picked up two wickets apiece. Praveen Kumar once again remained wicketless and went for 32 runs. Awana gave away 34 runs and Mahmood proved expensive giving away 37 in the four overs he bowled.

IPL 5: Nerveless Hodge seals RR a thriller

Rajasthan Royals’ previous four matches against Deccan Chargers had ended in victory, and a rather one-sided rivalry was extended in Jaipur where the home team pulled off a remarkable chase of 197 with five wickets and two balls remaining. Set their stiffest target of the season, Rajasthan were given a strong start from Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane but three wickets to Amit Mishra left them struggling for air. That’s when Brad Hodge proved his versatility; he smashed Dale Steyn for four consecutive fours en route to a nerveless 21-ball 48, and the IPL debutant Dishant Yagnik carved Steyn for successive fours to clinch a thriller. The win kept Rajasthan atop the IPL 5 table, and their reputation as the team to beat in 2012.

When Hodge walked to the middle at the fall of Owais Shah in the 14th over, Rajasthan needed 75 from 40 balls with seven wickets in hand. It was a daunting task, considering after Hodge there were no reputed batsman to follow. But the Australian swung the momentum back with four consecutive fours off Steyn – through point, past square leg, to third man and between the covers.

Then Johan Botha – dropped by Bharat Chipli at point on three – dumped Christian for a big six in the 18th over. Anand Rajan removed Botha with a slower ball, but Hodge smacked a straight four and a sliced six over extra cover to leave the target at 11 off six balls. Hodge carved the first ball from Steyn out to sweeper cover and sprinted two, flicked the second for a single and then Yagnik slapped a short ball to the point boundary to bring the Rajasthan dug-out to its feet. The winning shot came the very next delivery, as Yagnik punched into the covers and the boundary patroller made a mess of it.

This capped a thrilling chase, which had been ignited by Dravid who sped to 42 from 24 balls before being bowled by Christian. Steyn’s first over produced three boundaries, Rajan went for two streaky boundaries, and Dravid smoked Christian for a six before losing his leg stump. Rahane – fresh from a maiden Twenty20 century – contributed a more sedate 17 off 11 balls to the 62-run opening stand. Rajasthan opted for the strategic time-out after six overs, and the asking rate slowly climbed as Christian kept a check on runs and Steyn returned to test Rahane and Ashok Menaria. Rahane – who crossed 300 runs in IPL 5 - broke free with a six off Mishra to take the score to 90 for 1 after ten, meaning Rajasthan needed 108 at the half-way mark. However, attempting to pick up the asking rate against Mishra, Deccan stumbled. Menaria pulled a short ball to midwicket, Rahane skipped out and found the long-off fielder, and Shah – the man on whom the responsibility for a late surge rested – swiped to deep midwicket. Rajasthan still had Hodge, though.

Playing their first match since April 9 – a gap of eight days – Deccan would have backed themselves to win this after piling up 196 for 2. On a lightning-quick outfield, Deccan took at least one boundary off each of the first nine overs and, after a brief hiccup following the exit of their openers, produced a late surge that yielded 53 in the final four overs.

Shikhar Dhawan (52) and Kumar Sangakkara (44) put on 94 in 10. 4 overs, a stand that was snapped by Hodge’s part-time spin. Dhawan fell soon after, but after the strategy break JP Duminy and Christian provided the acceleration. They each hit sixes to get going, and even when the boundaries weren’t located the pair hustled between the wickets – they pinched five doubles – to ensure the platform set by the openers wasn’t wasted. Amit Singh’s third over cost 17, Pankaj Singh was looted for 18 in the penultimate over, and Duminy hit his fourth and fifth sixes in the final over to speed to a half-century in 24 balls. His splendid innings grabbed the initiative away from Rajasthan and resulted in Deccan posting a big total. Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t enough.