Ajinkya Rahane leads Rajasthan Royals' roar again

Earlier, the in-form Ajinkya Rahane scored a classy 74 as the Royals posted 191/6. The Mumbaikar slammed his second successive half-century of this IPL and gave another glimpse of his abundant talent.

At 26, Rahane, who slammed six fours and two sixes, seems to be trying to make up for the lost time in the shorter format of the game. After guiding the Royals to an emphatic win over Chennai Super Kings on Sunday, Rahane said he was enjoying his batting.

On Tuesday, opening the batting with captain Shane Watson (45), Rahane batted with supreme confidence. Not afraid to experiment, Rahane played a hook shot to a speeding Mitchell Johnson delivery in the fourth over. The next ball, he smashed one to point, signalling his intentions early.

Rahane completed his half-century with an exquisitely timed six over mid-wicket off Sandeep Sharma. Taking inspiration from Rahane, Watson, who looked rusty to begin with, changed gears after the first six overs. The Aussie took on young rookie off-spinner Shivam Sharma, hitting him for three fours and one towering six over long-on. The opening duo shared 95 before Watson went after being stumped by Wriddhiman Saha off Axar Patel.

The Royals promoted young Deepak Hooda to No. 3, and he didn't disappoint with a cameo of 19. Glenn Maxwell's two good catches near the boundary rope gave the Kings some reason to smile on an otherwise disappointing outing.