SHANE Warne’s Rajasthan Royals thrashed Delhi Daredevils by six wickets to pocket their second successive victory in the Indian Premier League yesterday.
In another match, Mumbai Indians posted a big nine-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bangalore with Sachin Tendulkar and Ambati Rayudu making unbeaten half-centuries.
Rajasthan rode on fine knocks by Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha to overhaul a competitive 152-run target with nine balls to spare at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
The usually sedate Dravid struck a quickfire 38 off 31 balls and South African Botha continued his fine form with the bat, scoring 39 not out with four fours.
Ross Taylor (18 not out) capped off a fine victory for Rajasthan with a boundary and a six in the penultimate over to delight a sizeable home crowd.
Delhi slumped to their second defeat in as many matches after having lost to Mumbai Indians in their opening match.
Delhi were in early trouble after skipper Virender Sehwag elected to bat but opener David Warner (54) and Venugopal Rao (60) posted responsible half-centuries to rescue their side.
Sehwag was dismissed off the third ball of the first over when he edged Aussie quick Shaun Tait to Dravid in the slips.
Tait returned to send back Aaron Finch (11) in his second spell before Warne dismissed Unmukt Chand and Naman Ojha in the same over to reduce Delhi to a shaky 36-4.
Australian spin legend Warne impressed the most among the bowlers, finishing with 2-17 but Tait proved expensive with his two wickets coming at the cost of 40 runs off four overs.
Mumbai comfortably achieved a 141-run target at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in 18.3 overs, with Tendulkar sharing 110 runs off 85 balls for the unbroken second wicket with Rayudu (63).
Tendulkar, the Mumbai skipper, hit seven fours in his 55-run knock.
Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan hit an unbeaten 59 to anchor the Bangalore innings after the first-ball dismissal of opener Mayank Agarwal off paceman Lasith Malinga.
Brief scores:
Delhi Daredevils 151-6 in 20 overs (V. Rao 60, D. Warner 54; S. Warne 2-17, S. Tait 2-40) lost to Rajasthan Royals 152-4 in 18.3 overs (J. Botha 39 not out, R. Dravid 38) by six wickets.
Royal Challengers Bangalore 140-4 in 20 overs (T. Dilshan 59 not out, AB de Villiers 38; K. Pollard 2-25, L. Malinga 2-32) lost to Mumbai Indians 143-1 in 18.3 overs (A. Rayudu 63 not out, S. Tendulkar 55 not out) by nine wickets.
