Virender Sehwag’s blistering innings of 75 off just 34 balls was enough to knock the winds out of the Rajasthan Royals’ sails. The Daredevil opener absolutely shattered any hope the Royals had of defending their below par total of 141. Sehwag’s impressive hitting made sure that the Daredevils won comfortably by six wickets.
Chasing 141, the Gambhir-Sehwag opening partnership worked like a charm for 41 runs until Gambhir was dismissed by Dimitri Mascarenhas. The Englishman’s smart bowling bore more dividends as he got Tillakaratne Dilshan off the very next ball - the Sri Lankan’s second successive duck in the tournament. But that was about all the success the Royals had in the field, as Sehwag’s power batting gave the Royals no chance. The Shane Warne led side didn’t help themselves when Shaun Tait dropped Sehwag on 41. To add salt to their wounds, the former Delhi captain went on to score the fastest half-century of the competition in 21 balls. Despite getting rid of Sehwag for 75, the Royals could never pile on the pressure, as Dinesh Karthik(23*) and Mithun Manhas(11*) saw out the game with 17 balls to spare.
Earlier in the day, after being put into bat by Daredevils captain Gautam Gambhir, the away side combined tight bowling and alert fielding to restrict Rajasthan Royals to a manageable 141. The Royals began with a spark, but Dirk Nannes made sure that was extinguished pretty soon. Naman Ojha’s breezy 24 off 14 balls reignited some hope amongst the Royals faithful, but that didn’t last long either, Amit Mishra coming back well to dismiss the dangerous looking Ojha. Rajasthan’s hopes of amassing a defendable total now hinged on Yusuf Pathan. Fresh from his record-breaking feat against Mumbai Indians, Royals’ expectations of him just went up a notch. And in the search for quick runs Pathan held out at mid-on off a Farveez Maharoof slower delivery. From then on it was damage control all the way for the Royals, as they struggled to reach 141 courtesy some responsible batting from Abhishek Jhunjhunwala 53*.
Two wins out of two for the Daredevils sees them top the points table on net run rate with 4 points. The Royals, on the other hand, languish at the bottom of the table after two successive losses.
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