On the eve of their second match in the third edition of the Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals’ captain Shane Warne had said that they would have to improve on their basics.
On Monday, however, it seemed as if the Royals haven’t yet learnt from their mistakes.
Poor batting, unnecessary run outs and shoddy fielding, including a dropped catch of Virender Sehwag, were the highlights of the Warne-led team’s six-wicket loss to Delhi Daredevils.
Invited to bat, RR failed to cope with the express pace of Dirk Nannes. After removing Swapnil Asnodkar in his first over, the Aussie made life difficult for the seasoned Graeme Smith.
Ojha, the aggressive one during his 24 off 14 balls, was castled by Amit Mishra while trying to hit the leggie out of the ground second time in the same over.
This brought Yusuf Pathan in middle. But the Baroda hit man disappointed by scoring a royal duck without giving his fans an opportunity to cheer him on. He was caught by AB de Villiers while trying to whack Maharoof out of the ground.
Soon Smith, who was looking steady after Gambhir took away Nannes, departed when he mistimed young Pradeep Sangwan. The Royals were reduced to 50/4.
The South African’s return to the dugout saw two rookie campaigners Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Paras Dogra fighting a tough battle.
Undeterred by the situation, Jhunjhunwala had a quite start before accelerating towards the end. In company of Paras Dogra (29 off 26b; 1x4, 2x6) he was involved in a crucial 60-run partnership to bail the Royals out of danger. Jhunjhunwala completed his well-deserved half century on the last ball of the innings.
DD openers Virender Sehwag and Gambhir made a mockery of Rajasthan bowlers when they began their essay.
After gathering 11 runs each of Dimitri Mascarenhas and Shaun Tait’s first over, Sehwag welcomed Munaf Patel with a towering six and four. It was followed by thundering boundary from Gambhir’s bat.
The duo enjoyed a good outing until an abrupt end. In an attempt to pull Dimitri Mascarenhas, Gambhir ballooned an easy catch to Smith on mid-on. The Englishman gave himself a chance of a hat-trick by getting rid off Tillakaratne Dilshan, who was caught behind off the very next ball.
AB de Villiers prevented the hat-trick. Mascarenhas was unlucky when Tait dropped Sehwag’s skyscraper. The Delhi batsman was on 42 when he mistimed a pull shot.
Keeping that behind, Sehwag soon completed his 50 which came off just 21 balls. Tait’s error proved costly as Sehwag-powered Delhi marched towards their target. Occasional misfielding and overthrows also helped DD’s cause.
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