Rahane and Nair share century stand as Rajasthan go top

Sudhir Gupta 07:07 04/05/2015
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  • Away she goes: Karun Nair.

    Rajasthan Royals ended their winless streak on a seaming Brabourne Stadium pitch in Mumbai last night by upstaging Delhi Daredevils and returning to the top of the table.

    Opener Ajinkya Rahane was the chief architect of Rajasthan’s victory as he laid a strong foundation with his unbeaten 91 before the bowling pack utilised the conditions well to clinch the game by 14 runs.

    Rahane, who hit nine fours and three sixes in his 54-ball knock, was involved in two fruitful partnerships that powered Rajasthan to 189-2, their second best total of the season behind 191-6 against Kings XI Punjab. He also regained the Orange Cap as he swelled his tally to 430 runs from 10 games. 

    Rahane raised 52 runs for the first wicket with his captain and opening partner Shane Watson (21 off 24 overs) before being involved in a rousing alliance of 113 runs in 66 balls for the second wicket with the energetic Karun Nair (61 off 38 balls).

    Both batsmen drove fluently, hit plenty of deliveries down the ground, put away short balls through midwicket, and once in a while pulled out the sweep and slog-sweep too. Nair hit six fours and two sixes in his best showing of the season, ending a series of poor scores.

    The victory was a welcome relief for Rajasthan, who began the tournament with a fantastic run of five wins before going winless in the next five, including two washouts.

    Buoyed by this victory, Watson is determined to win the remaining three games ahead of the playoffs. 

    “Rahane and Nair batted beautifully, and then the ball swung around in our favour. We hope to win every game from here,” he said. 

    While Rajasthan managed to get back into the groove, Delhi were left ruing a poor outing. A spate of fielding lapses did not help the bowlers, who were guilty of a lack of discipline.

    Their batting didn’t inspire much confidence either. Captain Jean-Paul Duminy (56 off 39 balls) fought gamely but once he was dismissed, Delhi’s goose was cooked.

    Despite this setback, Duminy, remains confident of his team making the playoff cut.

    “We were guilty of not putting the ball in the right areas. They got a great start and bowled reasonably well. 190 was gettable here, unfortunately we didn’t get any partnerships going,” he said.

    “We need to win four out of five now and hopefully it brings out the best in us. I still think we have the resources to do that. Batting at No3 is a little bit new for me, but I’m enjoying that and the captaincy too.”

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