* Mumbaikar strokes his way to an unbeaten 91 as Rajasthan beat Delhi to register first win in five games * Right-hander also gets hold of Orange Cap again
The stage was set for Mumbai boy Ajinkya Rahane to impress. The historic Brabourne Stadium was the venue. The stands, occupied by Mumbaikars donning the Rajasthan Royals blue and shouting "Ra-haa-ne" every time he was on strike.
For once, Rahane's personal coach Praveen Amre sat in the opposite camp, but he would have been pleased to watch his ward thrash Zaheer Khan & Co. on his way to a 54-ball 91. The knock helped Rajasthan Royals coast to a comfortable 14-run win over Delhi Daredevils on Sunday. Amre is the batting coach of Daredevils.
Rahane's knock couple with a stroke-filled 61 off 38 balls from Karun Nair was instrumental in their team post 189/2. However, it turned to be enough as Delhi failed to outsmart Rajasthan's tight and disciplined bowlers.
It was never easy for Delhi as they kept on losing wickets. Only their captain, JP Duminy, put up a strong fight. He held one end up, only to watch his partners throw away their wickets. The southpaw struck a 39-ball 56. Their most expensive player, Yuvraj Singh, who showed glimpses of his past form with four boundaries, could not go beyond 22 as Delhi were restricted to 175/7.
Amre's expressions proved he was a worried man. But at some level, he must have been happy to see his prodigy, Rahane, come up with a gem of a knock.
On a true wicket that had bounce, pace and turn, Rahane enjoyed his stay at the crease as he raced to his fourth half century of the season. His innings also saw him snatch the Orange Cap back from David Warner.
Put into bat, Rajasthan had a decent start. While skipper Shane Watson dominated early on, Rahane took over from him after the Australian returned home by edging Angelo Mathews to wicketkeeper Kedar Jadhav for 21.
The duo was involved in a 52-run stand for the first wicket.
The bounce suited Rahane as he played his on the rise drives and pulls easily. He started with a back-foot punch to IPL debutant Gurvinder Singh Sandhu before flicking and driving the seamers with aplomb.
The right-hander reached his half century with a stylish pull off Nathan Coulter-Nile. Before his 50, Rahane was dropped by Sandhu off the same bowler at 34.
He wasn't done though. Leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who extracted enough turn, too, was a victim of Rahane's ire. He played some exquisite inside-out drives before stepping out and hitting the India discard for a six over long-on.
Nair also joined the party by playing some hard-hitting shots. He reached his half-century by hitting Sandhu for six over mid-wicket before following it up with a scoop over short fine-leg. At 61, Nair went for an ambitious shot against Coulter-Nile and was caught by Mishra. Nair and Rahane added 113 runs.
However, the most entertaining part of the game was the 18th over when Rahane took on Zaheer Khan. He punched the left-arm pacer's attempted yorkers so hard that the fielders in deep had no answer.
An unselfish Rahane, however, remained nine short of his century.
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