Royals lord over Kings XI
The Rajasthan Royals stayed in touch with the Indian Premier League playoff candidates as they secured a comfortable 43-run victory over the Kings XI.
The Rajasthan Royals stayed in touch with the Indian Premier League playoff candidates as they secured a comfortable 43-run victory over the Kings XI Punjab on Saturday.
Led by their captain Rahul Dravid and Australia duo Shane Watson and Brad Hodge, the Royals posted a formidable total of 177 for six after winning the toss and opting to bat first in Mohali.
The Kings XI never looked like chasing it successfully, with only Shaun Marsh threatening briefly with 34 from 27 balls.
The left-hander found no support, however, with Mandeep Singh, Ntini Saini and David Hussey all falling for single-figure scores.
That meant that when Johan Botha got the better of Marsh with a quicker one in the ninth over of the reply, the Kings XI were 59 for four and on a hiding to nothing.
Azhar Mahmood (24) and Gurkeerat Singh (23) did their best to revive the innings, but the scoreboard pressure got the better of them and the rest of the Punjab line-up failed as they finished on 134 for eight.
The Rajasthan innings, by contrast, was strong throughout thanks to Dravid, who top-scored with 46 from 39 balls.
He shared in partnerships with Watson (36) and Ashok Menaria (34) before he was caught at third man off the bowling of Ryan Harris.
Menaria and Hodge (36) kept the momentum rolling, before Botha finished the innings with a couple of boundaries.
The result saw Rajasthan move above the Kings XI on net run rate, with both sides tied on 10 points apiece after 11 games.
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