Rajasthan post second IPL win

Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals thrashed Delhi Daredevils by six wickets to pocket their second successive victory in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday. Chasing a stiff 152, Rajasthan rode on fine knocks by Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha to overhaul the 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 an unbeaten 39 with four fours. Ross Taylor (18 not out) capped off a fine victory for Rajasthan with a four 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 won the toss and elected to bat but opener David Warner and Venugopal Rao posted responsible half-centuries to pull their side from the pits. 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. Warner fought back with a 44-ball 54 and Rao top-scored with a superb 60 off 40 balls, containing four fours and four sixes to take Delhi to a competitive total. 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.

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. JAIPUR, India, AFP