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Ahmedabad - Shaun Tait captured three wickets before Yusuf Pathan thundered to a scintillating half-century as the Rajasthan Royals romped to an eight-wicket win over the Deccan Chargers in their IPL match at the Sardar Patel Stadium on Friday.
Fast bowler Tait captured three for 22 off four overs to help restrict the Chargers to 148 for nine before Pathan lashed his way to 73 not out off just 34 balls as the Royals cantered to 151 for two with 26 balls of their innings remaining.
Pathan, whose first scoring shot was a six over long-off, reached his fifty in magnificent fashion as he thumped a full toss from left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas over mid-off for six.
The right-handed Pathan faced just 23 deliveries in bringing up his half-century while striking two fours and five sixes.
In keeping with the general theme of his innings Pathan ended the match by thrashing his eighth six, to go with two fours, straight back over leg-spinner Rahul Sharma’s head.
The Royals were given a superb start as Michael Lumb and Naman Ojha (14) combined for an opening stand of 55 before Ojha, in the seventh over, was stumped after skipping down the wicket to left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha.
Lumb and Pathan then put on 45 runs for the second wicket before Lumb was run out at the keeper’s end thanks to a throw from RP Singh at deep midwicket after Lumb was sent back by Pathan with the batsmen attempting a second run.
The left-handed Lumb departed for an entertaining 45 off 32 balls but despite his sparkling knock his efforts were completely overshadowed by Pathan’s destructive hitting.
Earlier, Tait received superb support from Shane Warne as the Chargers failed to take advantage of wining the toss and electing to bat.
The 40-year-old Warne showed that he is still capable of delivering top-class leg-spin as the Australian returned figures of one for 15 off four overs.
Warne extracted appreciable turn from the wicket while his unerring accuracy provided the Chargers’ batsmen with few scoring opportunities.
Rohit Sharma was the one Chargers batsman to trouble the Royals’ bowling attack as the right-hander scored 49 off 35 balls although he received a life when he was dropped by Adam Voges at deep midwicket with his score on 30.
Sharma fell in the last over when he sliced a Tait delivery to short third man.
Herschelle Gibbs (25) and VVS Laxman (10) were responsible for the highest partnership of the innings as the duo combined for a second-wicket stand of 38 before Tait had Laxman caught at mid-on.
Warne then entered the fray as he accounted for Gibbs, courtesy of a stumping.
Tait’s second wicket came thanks to a fast in-swinging yorker that rearranged Tirumalasetti Suman’s (9) stumps to leave the Chargers on 99 for five.
The win was the Royals’ third on the trot and pushes them to third on the table while the Chargers suffered their second loss in five matches.
Teams:
Deccan Chargers: AC Gilchrist (capt & wk), VVS Laxman, HH Gibbs, A Symonds, RG Sharma, TL Suman, Y Venugopal Rao, WPUJC Vaas, RP Singh, R Sharma, PP Ojha
Rajasthan Royals: NV Ojha (wk), MJ Lumb, FY Fazal, AC Voges, YK Pathan, AA Jhunjhunwala, P Dogra, SK Warne (capt), S Narwal, SK Trivedi, SW Tait
Fast bowler Tait captured three for 22 off four overs to help restrict the Chargers to 148 for nine before Pathan lashed his way to 73 not out off just 34 balls as the Royals cantered to 151 for two with 26 balls of their innings remaining.
Pathan, whose first scoring shot was a six over long-off, reached his fifty in magnificent fashion as he thumped a full toss from left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas over mid-off for six.
The right-handed Pathan faced just 23 deliveries in bringing up his half-century while striking two fours and five sixes.
In keeping with the general theme of his innings Pathan ended the match by thrashing his eighth six, to go with two fours, straight back over leg-spinner Rahul Sharma’s head.
The Royals were given a superb start as Michael Lumb and Naman Ojha (14) combined for an opening stand of 55 before Ojha, in the seventh over, was stumped after skipping down the wicket to left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha.
Lumb and Pathan then put on 45 runs for the second wicket before Lumb was run out at the keeper’s end thanks to a throw from RP Singh at deep midwicket after Lumb was sent back by Pathan with the batsmen attempting a second run.
The left-handed Lumb departed for an entertaining 45 off 32 balls but despite his sparkling knock his efforts were completely overshadowed by Pathan’s destructive hitting.
Earlier, Tait received superb support from Shane Warne as the Chargers failed to take advantage of wining the toss and electing to bat.
The 40-year-old Warne showed that he is still capable of delivering top-class leg-spin as the Australian returned figures of one for 15 off four overs.
Warne extracted appreciable turn from the wicket while his unerring accuracy provided the Chargers’ batsmen with few scoring opportunities.
Rohit Sharma was the one Chargers batsman to trouble the Royals’ bowling attack as the right-hander scored 49 off 35 balls although he received a life when he was dropped by Adam Voges at deep midwicket with his score on 30.
Sharma fell in the last over when he sliced a Tait delivery to short third man.
Herschelle Gibbs (25) and VVS Laxman (10) were responsible for the highest partnership of the innings as the duo combined for a second-wicket stand of 38 before Tait had Laxman caught at mid-on.
Warne then entered the fray as he accounted for Gibbs, courtesy of a stumping.
Tait’s second wicket came thanks to a fast in-swinging yorker that rearranged Tirumalasetti Suman’s (9) stumps to leave the Chargers on 99 for five.
The win was the Royals’ third on the trot and pushes them to third on the table while the Chargers suffered their second loss in five matches.
Teams:
Deccan Chargers: AC Gilchrist (capt & wk), VVS Laxman, HH Gibbs, A Symonds, RG Sharma, TL Suman, Y Venugopal Rao, WPUJC Vaas, RP Singh, R Sharma, PP Ojha
Rajasthan Royals: NV Ojha (wk), MJ Lumb, FY Fazal, AC Voges, YK Pathan, AA Jhunjhunwala, P Dogra, SK Warne (capt), S Narwal, SK Trivedi, SW Tait
