Rajasthan Royals

The Deccan Chargers may have won the second edition of the IPL and reached the semifinals in the third season but one thing they have failed to do so far is get a win on their home turf in Hyderabad. The story was no different when they took on Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals in their first match of the tournament as the blue of the Royals coasted to an eight wicket victory over the blue of the Chargers.

It looked like Warne’s decision to bowl first after winning the toss would backfire as Dhawan helped Chargers get off to a flier as they reached 40 before the end of five overs. But once the Delhite holed out to deep midwicket and Trivedi got Sangakkara for a duck, the Chargers middle order capitulated. Warne troubled Duminy all throughout his stay before finally getting him to chip one to long-off. Some late fireworks from Daniel Christian and local lad Ravi Teja helped the Chargers reach 137. Trivedi was the pick of the bowlers picking up three wickets for 15 runs.

Ojha conceded 11 runs of the first over but Ishant started wonderfully well as he gave only 3 runs in his first two overs. Paunikar got 20 quick runs before slashing at a wide Steyn delivery. And then Warne came up with another one of his master moves. He sent in Johan Botha at No.3 to stabilize the innings and Botha didn’t disappoint his skipper. He cut, drove, slashed and pulled as Royals always stayed in control of the chase. But Dravid at the other end batted like he was batting on a different surface and Steyn finally brought an end to his misery by castling him with a slower delivery as Royals needed 55 to win of 42 balls. Amit Mishra conceded only one run from his next over while Daniel Christian went for nine. Steyn conceded only two from his last over as the game burst into life with Royals needing 30 from the last three overs. Game on?

It wasn’t meant to be as Ishant started with a no-ball and then Botha top-edged a short ball to the fence. Ross Taylor added more salt to the wounds as he finished the over with a huge six! Botha smashed two boundaries and a six as he brought up his half century in the process as Royals coasted home with seven balls to spare leaving the Chargers supporters disappointed once again!

Siddharth Trivedi was adjudged the Man of the Match for his enviable bowling figures while Deccan Chargers have to pull up their sleeves and socks up to have any hopes of reaching the glory days of the past two seasons.

Tags: Cricket, DC, Deccan Chargers, Indian Premier League, IPL, IPL 2011, IPL 4, Rajasthan Royals, RR