Smith shines in Rajasthan win

2008-05-17 16:22

Jaipur - A woeful performance by the Bangalore Royal Challengers saw them succumb by a massive 65 runs in their IPL match against the Rajasthan Royals at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Chasing a mammoth total of 197 for one, Bangalore only managed 132 for nine. Things had begun badly for them when they slumped to two for two in only the second over with Arunkumar and Misbah-ul-Haq back in the hut before they had built up a sweat.

Sohail Tanvir, who had already picked up the wicket of Arunkumar, then had Kohli out, playing onto his stumps, with the score on a paltry five.

Bangalore, in the guise of Jacques Kallis and Cameron White, then began a period of consolidation and although runs weren't flowing, wickets weren't falling either. But with the score on 31, White chipped an easy catch to Trivedi at mid-on and was out for 10 off the bowling of Munaf Patel.

The difference between the two teams in the field was marked and where Bangalore looked listless, Rajasthan looked extremely sharp and enthusiastic.

Things didn't get any easier for Bangalore and Kallis was out for a positively pedestrian 20 off 29 balls when Trivedi had him caught at deep mid-wicket and the match was effectively over as a contest.

Rahul Dravid tried his best to delay the inevitable with a late charge but his 75 not out off 36 balls proved too little to late.

The Rajasthan bowlers performed well as a unit with the stand-outs being the unconventional Tanvir, who finished with figures of three for 10 off four overs and the ever dependable Shane Warne who took three for 23. Warne also took an outstanding one-handed catch, off his own bowling, to get rid of Zaheer Khan.

Earlier, an impressive opening stand of 109 between Graeme Smith and Swapnil Asnodkar had helped Rajasthan post their formidable total.

In a match played in sweltering conditions the diminutive Asnodkar, who scored 50 off 44 balls before being caught off the bowling of Anil Kumble, made his intentions very clear by lifting a delivery, from Zaheer Khan, over the ropes for six in the first over. Asnodkar had his fair of luck especially when, twice in a Kallis over, he edged the ball over the slips for four.

Initially, Smith battled to score, playing and missing on a number of occasions and when he did score, the ball was not coming cleanly out of the middle of his bat. He was content, in the main, to feed Asnodkar the lion's share of the strike early on.

Their partnership was characterised by some sharp running between the wickets, which helped to frustrate Bangalore's fielders and once Smith had overcome his early difficulties, the scoreboard really began to tick along. Smith eventually ending up with 75 not out off 49 balls with eight fours and two sixes.

To compound Bangalore's problems an exciting knock from Shane Watson, who clubbed 46 off 28 balls, really rubbed salt into their wounds.

Bangalore did not help their cause with some sloppy bowling, at times, giving away a number of runs through wides and all of the bowlers came in for some punishment.

Teams:

Rajasthan Royals:

Graeme Smith, Swapnil Asnodkar, Yusuf Pathan, Shane Watson, Mohammad Kaif, Ravindra Jadeja, Shane Warne (captain), Mahesh Rawat (wicketkeeper), Sohail Tanvir, Siddharth Trivedi, Munaf Patel.

Bangalore Royal Challengers:

J Arunkumar, Virat Kohli, Misbah-ul-Haq, Rahul Dravid (captain), Jacques Kallis, Cameron White, Praveen Kumar, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Devraj Patil (wicketkeeper), Abdur Razzak.

- SuperSport