Royals romp past poor Perth

Cricket365
September 29, 2013

The Rajasthan Royals made light work of the Perth Scorchers on Sunday, winning by nine wickets in Jaipur to go top of the Champions league T20 group A standings.

The Royals recorded their third win out of three, while Perth languished at the bottom of the pile, having failed to post a defendable score. They made 120 all out, which the IPL outfit chased down with 21 balls to spare.

The royals put the Scorchers in to bat first, as has been the case in most matches during the tournament when winning the toss, and soon made inroads into the top order.

While the top four batsmen all managed to reach double figures, Adam Voges was the only one to pass 20 as he top scored with 27. He was dismissed by West Indies spinner Kevon Cooper, who claimed four wickets.

Cooper, who was one of the stars during the IPL, also removed Hilton Cartwright, Ashton Turner and Joe Mennie, while Michael Beer was the final wicket to fall, run out by Sanju Samson off the final ball of the innings.

The Royals wouldn't have considered the 121 required much if a challenge, and their batting style reflected that. Once Rahul Dravid was sent packing for a duck in the first over, it was a romp home from there.

Ajinkya Rahane and Samson were the batsmen to bag the runs, each recording half centuries as they made the 120 runs still needed, getting the final one in the 17th over.

Rahane ended the match on 62 off 53 balls, while Samson was on 50 not out off 42 deliveries. Between them, they struck 11 fours and three sixes as the Perth bowling attack, devoid of any big names (unless two-Test spinner Ashton Agar counts) failed to find answers.

Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Brad Hodge, Ashok Menaria, James Faulkner, Kevon Cooper, Vikramjeet Malik, Pravin Tambe

Perth Scorchers: Liam Davis, Ashton Agar, Simon Katich, Adam Voges, Ashton Turner, Hilton Cartwright, Tom Triffitt, Joel Paris, Jason Behrendorff, Michael Beer, Joe Mennie