A masterful death bowling effort, and Ajinkya Rahane's third straight
fifty, helped consolidate Rajasthan Royals' place in the top four as
they beat Kings XI Punjab by eight wickets in Mohali. Kevon Cooper was
the primary architect of Kings XI's slow-down towards the end of their
innings, as his measured slower deliveries exploited the slow nature of
the Mohali surface, and swept away much of the momentum Shaun Marsh and
Adam Gilchrist had secured in a 102-run stand. Having arrived at the
14th over at 100 for 1, Kings XI could only stumble to 145 for 6 in
their 20 overs and the batsmen failed to hit a boundary in the last four
overs of their innings.
Cooper's first victim was Gilchrist, who reinstated himself in the side
after three matches. He had batted securely for 42 from 32, and helped
Marsh overcome an indifferent start, until he offered Cooper a return
catch off an offcutter that took longer to arrive than he had
anticipated. Cooper returned in the 17th over, proving difficult to get
away, and should have had Marsh out then, had Rahul Dravid held on to a
catch running back from cover. Cooper got both Marsh and David Miller
next over though, again off slower balls, as both men perished
attempting heaves across the line. He finished with 3 wickets for 23
from his four overs.
At the toss, Dravid had cited his side's preference for chasing scores
as a reason for fielding first, and his choice proved an insightful one
as Royals executed a smooth run chase to record their seventh-straight
victory batting second. Dravid was uncharacteristically undone by the
flight of a dipping Bipul Sharma delivery, but Rahane steadied the
chase, alongside Shane Watson, and they rarely allowed the run rate to
waver.
The pitch seemed to quicken as the match headed to its denouement -
again a phenomenon Dravid had expected at the toss - and the hosts' fast
bowlers could not build any pressure on the batsmen. Among Rahane's
finest strokes was a languid six over extra-cover off Piyush Chawla, and
an arrogant punch through the covers off Parvinder Awana.
Watson and Rahane put on 66 before Watson was dismissed by Chawla.
Rahane subsequently gained a bundle of spirited raw-talent in
18-year-old Sanju Samson, who actually outshone Rahane in the latter
part of the innings. The pair relied largely on singles and twos to form
the base of their partnership, but quickly began finding the boundary
as well, Samson doing so with particular audacity. He was unbeaten on 47
from 33 after hitting the winning boundary at the end of the 19th over,
with Rahane on 59 from 49.
Marsh's 64-ball 77 was the backbone of Kings XI's foundation, but their
failure to kick on from a good start ultimately cost them the match.
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