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Ken Borland - SuperSport
Jaipur - Shane Warne produced an excellent spell of spin bowling to prompt an extraordinary collapse as the Rajasthan Royals hammered the Kochi Tuskers Kerala by eight wickets in their IPL match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Sunday.
There will be more than a few critics having to eat humble pie after Warne returned brilliant figures of three for 16 in his four overs as Rajasthan restricted the Tuskers to 109 all out.
Both Rajasthan openers - Shane Watson and Rahul Dravid - then produced fluent innings as the home side chased down the target with a massive 5.5 overs to spare.
Watson hit two sixes and four fours in his 49 off 40 balls, while it was Dravid who hit the first six of the match as he figuratively stuck his tongue out at all the naysayers who don't believe he can play twenty20 cricket, stroking a rapid 44 off 37 balls.
The runs flowed steadily while the two international stars were at the crease, Watson and Dravid adding 71 in 10.4 overs.
Johan Botha completed an exemplary performance by the Royals with his 14 not out off seven balls, the win lifting Rajasthan out of the pack and into second place in the standings.
But the victory was made by Rajasthan's excellent work in the field after captain Warne chose to bowl first.
The Tuskers were rebuilding after a shaky start as they reached 90 for three in the 16th over, but Warne got both set batsmen out with successive balls, leading to a collapse that saw the last seven wickets tumble for just 19 runs.
The Australian leg-spinner received fine support from the rest of his attack, with fast bowler Siddharth Trivedi taking three for 19 and South African spinner Botha bowling wonderfully well after the powerplay to take one for 19.
Kochi lost their first wicket in the fourth over when Vangipurappu Laxman (8) wasn't fast enough to beat Dravid's underarm throw from short third man and was run out. Rajasthan's slick fielding, with wicketkeeper Dishant Yagnik setting the tone, would be a feature of the innings, which was also ended by a run out, thanks to Botha.
The Sawai Mansingh Stadium pitch is hardly a Garden of Eden batting-wise and the Kochi batsmen failed badly to adjust to the slow and low surface, especially after both Botha and Warne made perfect starts by claiming wickets in their first overs - those of key batsmen Mahela Jayawardena (13) and Brad Hodge (8).
Botha got Jayawardena out by bowling him off his thigh pad, while Hodge edged a Warne delivery that kept extremely low back into his stumps.
Parthiv Patel (32) and Ravindra Jadeja (22) then showed excellent patience in a stand of 48 in 7.5 overs before Warne's top-class bowling sent the innings into a terminal decline.
Jadeja top-edged a slog-sweep and offered a simple return catch, while Parthiv missed a reverse-sweep and wicketkeeper Yagnik pulled off a sharp stumping.
Trivedi then removed Raiphi Gomez (0) and Thisara Perera (1), Stuart Binny taking a fine catch at deep square-leg, in a top-class 17th over, as well as claiming a third wicket in a great final over that cost just two runs.
Fellow seamer Amit Singh was tidy, conceding just 26 runs in his four overs and taking a wicket, while Watson had an all-round good evening, bowling four overs for 23 runs and taking two catches.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: SR Watson, SA Asnodkar, R Dravid, AM Rahane, AL Menaria, LRPL Taylor, DH Yagnik (wk), SK Warne (capt), J Botha, STR Binny, SK Trivedi
Kochi Tuskers Kerala: VVS Laxman, DPMD Jayawardene (capt), RA Jadeja, BJ Hodge, KM Jadhav, PA Patel (wk), RV Gomez, R Vinay Kumar, RP Singh, M Muralitharan, NLTC Perera
Jaipur - Shane Warne produced an excellent spell of spin bowling to prompt an extraordinary collapse as the Rajasthan Royals hammered the Kochi Tuskers Kerala by eight wickets in their IPL match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Sunday.
There will be more than a few critics having to eat humble pie after Warne returned brilliant figures of three for 16 in his four overs as Rajasthan restricted the Tuskers to 109 all out.
Both Rajasthan openers - Shane Watson and Rahul Dravid - then produced fluent innings as the home side chased down the target with a massive 5.5 overs to spare.
Watson hit two sixes and four fours in his 49 off 40 balls, while it was Dravid who hit the first six of the match as he figuratively stuck his tongue out at all the naysayers who don't believe he can play twenty20 cricket, stroking a rapid 44 off 37 balls.
The runs flowed steadily while the two international stars were at the crease, Watson and Dravid adding 71 in 10.4 overs.
Johan Botha completed an exemplary performance by the Royals with his 14 not out off seven balls, the win lifting Rajasthan out of the pack and into second place in the standings.
But the victory was made by Rajasthan's excellent work in the field after captain Warne chose to bowl first.
The Tuskers were rebuilding after a shaky start as they reached 90 for three in the 16th over, but Warne got both set batsmen out with successive balls, leading to a collapse that saw the last seven wickets tumble for just 19 runs.
The Australian leg-spinner received fine support from the rest of his attack, with fast bowler Siddharth Trivedi taking three for 19 and South African spinner Botha bowling wonderfully well after the powerplay to take one for 19.
Kochi lost their first wicket in the fourth over when Vangipurappu Laxman (8) wasn't fast enough to beat Dravid's underarm throw from short third man and was run out. Rajasthan's slick fielding, with wicketkeeper Dishant Yagnik setting the tone, would be a feature of the innings, which was also ended by a run out, thanks to Botha.
The Sawai Mansingh Stadium pitch is hardly a Garden of Eden batting-wise and the Kochi batsmen failed badly to adjust to the slow and low surface, especially after both Botha and Warne made perfect starts by claiming wickets in their first overs - those of key batsmen Mahela Jayawardena (13) and Brad Hodge (8).
Botha got Jayawardena out by bowling him off his thigh pad, while Hodge edged a Warne delivery that kept extremely low back into his stumps.
Parthiv Patel (32) and Ravindra Jadeja (22) then showed excellent patience in a stand of 48 in 7.5 overs before Warne's top-class bowling sent the innings into a terminal decline.
Jadeja top-edged a slog-sweep and offered a simple return catch, while Parthiv missed a reverse-sweep and wicketkeeper Yagnik pulled off a sharp stumping.
Trivedi then removed Raiphi Gomez (0) and Thisara Perera (1), Stuart Binny taking a fine catch at deep square-leg, in a top-class 17th over, as well as claiming a third wicket in a great final over that cost just two runs.
Fellow seamer Amit Singh was tidy, conceding just 26 runs in his four overs and taking a wicket, while Watson had an all-round good evening, bowling four overs for 23 runs and taking two catches.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: SR Watson, SA Asnodkar, R Dravid, AM Rahane, AL Menaria, LRPL Taylor, DH Yagnik (wk), SK Warne (capt), J Botha, STR Binny, SK Trivedi
Kochi Tuskers Kerala: VVS Laxman, DPMD Jayawardene (capt), RA Jadeja, BJ Hodge, KM Jadhav, PA Patel (wk), RV Gomez, R Vinay Kumar, RP Singh, M Muralitharan, NLTC Perera
