Rajasthan win with a ball to spare

News

Cricket365
April 29, 2013

The Rajasthan Royals kept their home unbeaten record in tact as they emerged victorious over the Royal Challengers Bangalore with one ball to spare, and by four wickets in Jaipur on Monday.

The Bangalore side batted first and posted 171 for six, though it never looked to be enough as Shane Watson and 18-year-old Sanju Samson did the job for the Royals. It was tight though, as the hosts nearly chucked it away at the death, losing quick wickets.

Bangalore did not have as fluid an innings as they would have liked, with Chris Gayle top-scoring with 34. He looked on track for another big knock, scoring his runs off just 16 balls, but Watson had other ideas and sent him packing with the score on 44.

The rest of the RCB order put up middling scores, with none able to push the total high enough to thwart a formidable Rajasthan order. They only got the score they did thanks to three consecutive sixes in the final over from Vinay Kumar, who made 22 off six balls.

The Royals lost their openers, Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Dravid, rather cheaply, and they were both back in the hut before the seventh over. But Watson and Samson put on 68 together to make sure they stayed on track.

There was panic in the stadium when Watson went out though, with 10 runs required off nine balls. Brad Hodge was still in the middle, in his 30s, but Kumar got rid of him too, and then Kohli ran Owais Shah out for one.

This left them needing three runs off two balls, and Stuart Binny was up to the task, pulling Kumar to mid wicket to end the game, Dravid breathing a sigh of relief.

The result left Bangalore in second place, and the Royals in third, both sides trailing the Chennai Super Kings.

Rajasthan Royals: S Watson, A Rahane, R Dravid, O Shah, S Binny, B Hodge, S Samson, J Faulkner, A Chandila, S Trivedi, S Sreesanth

Royal Challengers Bangalore: C Gayle, A Mukund, V Kohli, AB de Villiers, S Tiwary, M Henriques, R Rampaul, R Vinay Kumar, M Kartik, RP Singh, J Unadkat