Rajasthan Royals beat Deccan Chargers by 3 wickets

Adam Gilchrist lost to the best skipper Australia never had. Shane Warne doesn’t need four thinkers in his unit, nor does he need an entourage of coaches; he just uses his own brain and gets the blueprint right.

That was enough to keep Team Jaipur alive in IPL Season 2 as they beat Team Hyderabad by three wickets in an absorbing contest here on Saturday. Target 142 wasn’t a huge one, but being two down for one in the first over would ruffle most, but not Warne.

Wickets kept falling but Warne knew he just had to give Yusuf Pathan a platform from where the T20 champion could finish off the game.

Pathan, easily Team Jaipur’s most explosive batsman, was held back till No. 8 and as late as the 16th over, but when he came out to bat, the defending champions needed 49 off 35 balls.

Pathan (24 off 14 balls) chose inexperienced Hyderabad medium-pacer SM Shoaib for special treatment, thrashed a couple of boundaries and a six, and it was down to run-a-ball in no time. Yusuf got out trying to heave one over the top, but by then, he had all but won the game for Team Jaipur.

There were a few tense moments towards the end, which included two dot balls and one bye in the last over, but AS Raut (36 no off 23 balls) ensured that Warne’s boys would pull it off with two balls to spare. The game wouldn’t have gone that far had umpire Sudhir Asnani not bungled.

Lee Carseldine (39 off 32 balls) had settled in nicely after Jaipur had lost those two wickets early in their chase. Venugopal Rao fired one in and Carseldine chopped it onto his pads, but to his horror, umpire Asnani put his finger up.

The Aussie couldn’t believe what was happening, neither could Warne at the other end, but the damage had been done.
Just that Warne himself was not ready to throw the hat in. He, along with Raut, kept looking for some risk-free runs to set it up for Yusuf.

When Warne understood that the stage had been reached, he tried a high-risk shot and got out, and left the rest for Yusuf. And the elder Pathan showed once again that his skipper’s faith is not misplaced.

Credits: TimesofIndia