Rajasthan score modest 126/8 in crunch game
A disciplined bowling on a helpful track helped Deccan Chargers restrict Rajastan Royals to a modest 126 for eight in their Indian Premier League match, here on Friday.
The pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium had something for both the spinners and the pacers and the hosts made full use of the opportunity to snap their six-match losing streak.
Rajasthan kept losing wickets at regular intervals and that dented their chances of putting up a good total in a game which they need to win to remain in play-offs contention.
Rajasthan skipper Rahul Dravid top-scored for them with his 36-ball 39 with the help of five boundaries while Owais Shah made a useful 28. Ashok Menaria contributed 20.
Leg-break bowler Amit Mishra (2/20) got vicious turn from the pitch and he along with pacers Dale Steyn (2/16) and Veer Pratap Singh (2/31) took two wickets each.
Rajasthan never got the desired going in the crunch game with their prolific scorer Ajinkya Rahane (6) failing to make a significant contribution.
After being dropped by Parthiv Patel in the first ball he faced from J P Duminy, he was dismissed by Steyn, who bowled a very hostile two-over spell.
Manpreet Gony could have got two wickets in two balls but the butter-fingered fielders denied him those scalps. First Shikhar Dhawan dropped Dravid and then a chance off Watson (13) was grassed in the next ball. Dravid was on individual score of eight then in the fifth over.
Despite poor fielding, Rajastan batsmen struggled to score as they managed just 31 off the first five overs. In came spinner Amit Mishra and he cleaned up Watson with his first delivery.
The leg-spinner returned and this time he castled Stuart Binny (7) to leave the visitors reeling at 61 for three at half-way mark.
There was a big responsibility on the shoulders of Dravid and Shah to steer the team to a competitive total but the skipper started his walk back to the dug out when he slashed one hard off Gony only to find Chris Lynn at the rope.
Runs came in through singles and doubles after that and boundaries were far and few.
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