It’s difficult to say if it’s about a certain Rahul Dravid as the skipper, the home pitch or sheer team work, but Rajasthan Royals just seem to be getting more formidable at home with each passing match.
Before Tuesday, six teams took the field at the Sawai man Singh stadium here with an eye on breaching this fort but none has been able to. The seventh one — Delhi Daredevils — also tried in vain on Tuesday.
With Royals having entertainingly chased down the likes of 179 runs a couple of days earlier, Delhi Daredevils’ 154/4 definitely stood no chance. And, Dravid, the prototype of responsibility, once again decided to not leave it to others and hit 53, aided well by Ajinkya Rahane’s unbeaten 63, to lead the side to a nine-wicket win and 7-0 record at home to reach 16 points.
Daredevils seemed to be in luck when their skipper Mahela Jayawardene got the chance to make the hosts field under the torturous Sun. And when Shaun Tait opened the bowling by giving away 11 runs, the visitors looked set to make the most of the situation and post a challenging sum on the board. But, as it turned out, the heat was on Daredevils rather.
Virender Sehwag was the first one to retreat to the dugout’s comfort. There was not much effort required at James Faulkner’s part to send his bails flying soon after he had hit him for two boundaries to add his 11 to Daredevils’ 19.
CM Gautam was the next one to walk out to the crease. But his IPl debut couldn’t last more than three balls. A clean edge to Shane Watson delivery ended up safely in wicketkeeper Sanju Samson’s gloves. After two quick wickets, the script looked good for Royals. But then soon enough the signs hinted at otherwise when David Warner was given a lifeline in the fourth over. The Aussie big-hitter’s call for a single wasn’t responded in kind by his skipper. He was made to rush back and was lucky to make it in time.
He, however, could not make much of the opportunity. Sachin Baby took an easy catch off Stuart Binny in the eighth over to make the visitors’ score read 47/3.
Jayawardene once again seemed destined to fight it out all alone but even his will gave up after some time. He had just hit Siddharth Trivedi for one over the boundary on the fourth ball of the 12th over. And, the Royals medium-pacer was quick to take revenge. Dravid was as safe hands as ever at the midwicket to see his counterpart walk back.
Ben Rohrer and Kedar Jadhav, however, combined well to take the total to a decent level. Their 76-run partnership propelled Daredevils to 154 for 4, with Rohrer reaching his half-century in the penultimate over. He finished with an unbeaten 64 as Jadhav added 23.
The total, as expected, was not enough to unnerve Royals.
And, not trying hard enough to send Dravid and Rahane packing when the chances came spoke a lot about Daredevils’ desire to win, especially after having suffered eight losses from 11 matches before this one.
Pawan Negi was running backwards following Rahane’s hit off Morne Morkel in the fifth over. He got under the ball, his eyes fixed above, but erred in collecting. The very next over Ajit Agarkar had a slim chance to see Dravid off but he couldn’t get enough time to get more than a touch to the straight shot that saw umpire Aleem Dar duck for safety.
The in-form duo led the side to 100 with much ease halfway through the 13th over as Dravid also reached his 50 at the same point. Rahane followed his skipper to a hilt by reaching his half-century a couple of overs later. Dravid, meanwhile, had done his work and walked back at seven-boundary laden 53, Agarkar not making any mistake in taking this catch off Sidharth Kaul.
With Dravid and Rahane having done the major part of the job, all Watson had to do was keep Rahane company with 28 runs as the latter led the side to the target in 13 balls to spare with his 63-run effort.
Brief Scores
Daredevils: 154/4 in 20 overs (Ben Rohrer 64 not out, Mahela Jayawardene 34; Shane Watson 1/21) lost to Royals: 155/1 in 17.5 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 63 not out, Rahul Dravid 53; Siddharth Kaul 1/23) by nine wickets.