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The Rajasthan Royals got the better of the Kings XI Punjab by 31 runs in a crucial encounter at Mohali between two teams stuck at the wrong end of the Indian Premier League table. Both teams have been far from their best in the tournament and needed to get a move on soon. With their first win of the season coming in the last match for both sides, the two teams headed into this match with some much needed confidence were hoping to build on their performance.

The Royals were put into bat first and they responded to the challenge by posting 183 for 5 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Michael Lumb, Fazal Faiz and Adam Voges were the major contributors for the visitors as they planned their innings well and racked up a very competitive total. Punjab, on the other hand were off to a flier courtesy Kumar Sangakkara and Manvinder Bisla's attacking instincts. However, some inexplicable shots by the other premier batsmen in the Punjab line up literally gifted the win to Rajasthan.

Prior to the match, Kings XI Punjab had been greeted by the good news of the return of Australian duo of Shaun Marsh and Brett Lee. However, the men from land of the kangaroo were not included in the team today. Sangakkara won the toss and invited Shane Warne and his men to take first strike. The rationale behind the home side's decision was the heavy dew expected in the latter part of the match.

Rajasthan started on a positive note as the opening bowlers dished out ample freebies to the batting pair of Michael Lumb and Naman Ojha. There was more than a hint of swing for the bowlers but Sreesanth and co struggled to get their line right. The first 3 overs fetched the Royals 30 runs and considering their recent run, this was a great start.

Sreesanth finally got the breakthrough when Naman Ojha hit one straight to Shalabh Srivastava at mid -n. The Kerala pacer increased the temperature on the pitch with some aggressive bowling and a few verbal volleys too. Michael Lumb, on the other hand seemed to have hit a purple patch as he continually cleared the inner circle and got the visitors some much needed boundaries in the PowerPlay overs. The intelligent hitting of Lumb took the Royals to 53 for 1 at the end of the first 6 overs. It was just the start the Rajasthan were craving, especially with Adam Voges and Yusuf Pathan available to use the long handle in the later overs.

Piyush Chawla got the big wicket of Lumb as the batsman was deceived by the leg spinner's googly and was stumped by an alert Sangakkara behind the stumps. Lumb, to his credit had played his part as he stroked 41 from a mere 30 balls and provided a solid platform to the innings. Yusuf Pathan was the next man in and with the clear directive from his team management to bat the home side out of the game.

The Pathan brothers were involved in a comedy of errors when a miscue from Yusuf Pathan was dropped by his younger sibling. It was a welcome reprieve for the Royals' batsman courtesy his younger brother early in his innings. After 10 overs, the visitors had coasted to 87 for the loss of two wickets and were looking good for an imperious score.

Pathan finally holed out to Yuvraj after a brief cameo of 28 from 19 balls, and with 7 overs still to play there was plenty of work to be done by the batsmen to follow. Adam Voges stepped in and started in ominous fashion as he stroked two fours of a Yuvraj Singh over. With 5 overs to go, the visitors were well placed at 133 for 3 and with Voges looking in great touch, the fireworks seemed just round the corner.

Voges too was in no mood to disappoint the expectant crowd as some lusty hitting from the Australian took the visitors to a very respectable score of 183 for the loss of 5 wickets at the end of the allotted 20 overs. While Voges contributed an unbeaten innings of 45 from 24 balls, he was brilliantly supported by young Faiz Fazal who too made 45 before getting run out in the last over, trying to steal a non-existent second run.

In their reply, the home side were in belligerent mood at the start. Captain Sangakkara, in desperate need of some runs, promoted himself up the order, and despite the poor track record in the series, was timing the ball quite beautifully. At the other end Ravi Bopara dropped anchor allowing the Sri Lankan star to have a dash without fear. Sagakkara fell for a quick 29 from 13 deliveries, including 6 hits to the fence and was replaced by an equally aggressive Manvinder Bisla, who stroked the ball all around the park with rather unnerving consistency. Bisla's contribution of 35 from 18 balls before he was outfoxed by Shane Warne took the home side to 87 runs for the loss of two wickets at the end of 8 overs. At that stage, with Bopara and Yuvraj Singh in the middle, it seemed more a question of when and not if Punjab were going to register a second consecutive win.

Michael Lumb dropped Yuvraj (when the southpaw was on 15) off the bowling of Siddharth Trivedi. However, Yuvraj didn't seem to have learnt his lesson as he got fooled by a slower one from Trivedi of the very next ball he faced and Faiz Fazal didn't make any mistake in gobbling up the offering. The home side were in for a double whammy when Bopara hit a Munaf Patel slower ball straight to Siddharth Trivedi. At this stage, Kings XI Punjab still needed 71 from 45 balls.

The match was well and truly on and it seemed that the Punjab side could pay for some indiscrete shot selection from its top order batsmen. The situation went from bad to worse for Punjab when Abhishek Jhunjhunwala smartly ran out Irfan Pathan to leave the home side tottering at 113 for 5 in 13 overs. Yusuf Pathan then struck the final nail in the home side's coffin when he got Mohammad Kaif plumb in front of the wicket.

With 4 overs to go, Punjab needed 50 runs. The weight of runs and the lack of batsmen in form told on the men in the middle as Punjab lost their way and were eventually bundled out for 152 runs.

It was a win to cherish for Shane Warne and his men especially considering they had their backs to the wall in the early part of the Kings XI chase. The home side on the other hand would be bitterly disappointed by the manner in which they literally gifted the match to the Rajasthan Royals. The two additional points see Rajasthan right back in the race for a semi-final spot as they leapt up the table from last place to 5th, tied with 4 points with three other teams. The only positive for the Punjab side would be the presence of Shaun Marsh and Brett Lee in their midst. The Australian duo have enough quality in them to bolster the flagging confidence of the side and take Punjab to their rightful place under the sun. They will get their chance on Saturday the 27th of March when the Kolkata Knight Riders come calling. Rajasthan meanwhile are in action on Friday as they entertain Shane Warne's good mate Adam Gilchrist and his Deccan Chargers.

Mini Scorecard:

Rajasthan Royals 183/5 (20 overs)
Adam Voges 45* (24)              Sreesanth 1-20
Fazal Faiz 45 (38)                 Chawla 1-29

Kings XI Punjab 152 all out (19.1 overs)
M Bisla 35 (18)                     Tait 3-22
K Sangakkara 29 (13)            Pathan 2-9

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File Photograph Copyright: Michael Henn

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