Rajasthan Royals have tasted blood and registered their first win in the IPL-3 by defeating the Kolkata Knight Riders by 34 runs at Sardar Patel Stadium,Ahmedabad on Saturday. They won the toss and chose to bat first. Abhishek Jhunjhunwala scored a fluent 45 to ensure Rajasthan Royals reach a fighting score of 168 which they could defend with the help of their bowlers.
On the other hand Kolkatta Knight Riders did not show any dedication in their battting. They struggled to score runs and even though they had saved their wickets for the end they could not capitalise on that also. Sourav Ganguly, too, struggled to find his rythym today. He tried to go for the big shots but could not find his timing.
It might have been a plan that Hodge would drop anchor and the others hit around him but he never adapted to the changing demands of the chase. Brad Hodge scored a run-a-ball 36 and never allowed to accelerate the run chase. It was a slow track and helped the spinners all through.
For the Kolkata Knight Riders Tewary 11, Hodge 36, Pujara 29, Ganguly 33 were the main contributors to their score of 134 for 5 in the allotted 20 overs.
Rajasthan relied heavily on spin – they started with Yusuf Pathan who took out the opener Manoj Tiwary with a quick delivery and later returned to take out Pujara which paid rich dividends on this pitch as it was helping the spinners. It also helped that Shane Warne found drift and turn the ball to keep the batsmen in check. Hodge was content, nudging Warne around, Pujara couldn’t break free against him, and Ganguly couldn’t connect with his intended big hits. Only Pujara played with a sense of purpose, hitting four fours right away on arrival at the crease.
Warne thought that 175 would be a good total and his batsmen responded well to the captain’s call. They attacked with a plan, with one batsman looking to get after the bowling while the other rotated the strike. While Naman Ojha and Faiz Fazal attacked at the beginning of their innings, it was Jhunjhunwala who took control of the proceedings and hit a few boundaries. This tactic did gave Rajasthan Royals the impetus and a feasible total to defend which they did in the end.
Fazal had set the ball rolling with his attacking approach at the top. He came in and immediately looked to get after the bowling. In one over, he swiped the ball for a four but it was later that he hit three boundaries against Dinda.
Fazal fell to Shane Bond to mid-off but then Ojha took over the attack and hit few boundaries against Matthews. However, he was run out from an accurate throw from Mathews at long leg. That brought Yusuf to the crease and he drove couple of boundaries but once again fell to the short ball, mistiming his attempted pull shot.
For the Rajasthan Royals Ojha 27, Fazal 31, Jhunjunwala 45 and Yoges remained not out for 37 runs.
Abhishek Jhunjunwala was declared Man of the Match.
Ravi Matah