The Rajasthan Royals moved to the top of the IPL Leaderboard after they cruised to their second successive win by beating the Delhi Daredevils by six wickets.
The senior batsmen took on the responsibility – Rahul Dravid set up the platform and Johan Botha anchored things in the middle – while the youngsters, Ashok Menaria and Ajinkya Rahane, batted with freedom to keep the required rate under control. Ross Taylor finished things off in the 19th over with his trademark leg-side lashes.
If Rajasthan’s batting flowed along seamlessly, their bowling was a tale of two halves. Their fortunes were typified by the four one-over spells delivered by their fastest bowler. Shaun Tait’s first two overs got rid of Virender Sehwag and Aaron Finch – two parts of Delhi’s powerful top-order trinity. David Warner, the third part, survived Tait and saw off a sublime spell from Shane Warne before turning things around with Venugopal Rao.
Tait was too short in the third over and too full in his fourth, and Delhi tucked in, hauling themselves from 43 for 4 after 10 overs to a middling score. Their bowlers, however, let them down badly.
It was an innings of two halves for Rajasthan Royals, and their fortunes were typified by the four one-over spells delivered by their fastest bowler. Shaun Tait’s first two overs got rid of Virender Sehwag and Aaron Finch – two parts of Delhi’s powerful top-order trinity. David Warner, the third part, survived him and saw off a sublime spell of legspin from Shane Warne before kick-starting the resurgence along with Venugopal Rao. Tait’s third over was a rash of leg-stump offerings, and his final over was full of overcooked yorkers as he bled 40 runs in his spell. Delhi tucked in, to haul themselves from 43 for 4 after 10 overs to gallop past 150.
“I am used to facing all these fast bowlers.” – Sehwag’s emphatic declaration before the game set the tone for a delicious confrontation with Tait. The encounter was, however, over before you could blink. Sehwag cracked his first ball through point but Tait hit back straight away with unadulterated pace, hustling the Delhi captain into edging the next ball to slip. Taking guard after Sehwag’s sizzle and fizzle, Finch barely saw three thunderbolts – one of them touching 157 kph – that burst through his defences. One over of high impact – one spell out of the way.
Johan Botha replaced Tait for the third over and Finch welcomed the lack of pace by slugging him over midwicket. With Siddharth Trivedi’s slower balls not making an impact, Tait was called back for the fifth over.
He opened his second spell with a 149.3 kph bouncer that Finch managed to heave in front of square leg for four, but fell attempting a similarly audacious pull later in the over. Another rest for Tait, and Shane Warne brought himself on.
His first ball was a quick, dipping legspinner on leg stump that Unmukt Chand helped straight to Rahul Dravid at slip. Naman Ojha crouched deep in the crease to counter the second ball before wandering out cluelessly to a slow and looping delivery on off stump. Mistake. 36 for 4 and Delhi’s road to redemption was getting longer, very quickly.
Thereafter, the pressure eased off Delhi. Warner had got his eye in, and was well set for a late blitz against the weaker links in the attack. Rao made the first attacking move though, charging Botha in the 11th over to dump him over long-on, before sweeping Warne for four in the next. Trivedi’s lines were off-target, and Warner managed to mow him through the leg side for four more as things began to brighten for Delhi.
Botha’s final over, the 15th of the innings, kick-started the final flurry as Warner edged him for four and Rao launched another six over the leg side. Tait began his third over with short balls on the body, and included an over-pitched delivery on the stumps, all of which Warner plundered for boundaries. He reached his 50 by cutting Warne in front of square before handing over the baton to his partner.
Rao picked two successive slower balls from Trivedi to smash sixes over the off side, in the process getting to his half-century. Both Rao and Warner were dismissed before the 20th over, but Irfan Pathan was around to capitalise on two low full tosses from Tait to take his side to a defendable score.
Source + Pic: espncricinfo.com
