Royals Move to 2 With Comforatble Win

Jaipur: Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane slammed impressive fifties to lead Rajasthan Royals to a thumping 9-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in their IPL 6 match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

The win elevated the Royals into second position in the overall standings with 16 points from 12 matches.

Chasing a 155-run target, Dravid completed his half-century in 45 balls with the help of 7 boundaries before being dismissed by Siddarth Kaul for a score of 53.

Dravid along with Rahane gave Rajasthan Royals a good start when the duo put up a quick-fire 108-run stand for the opening wicket to put the Royals in a commanding position.

However, Kaul broke the partnership when he had the Rajasthan skipper caught at long on by Ajit Agarkar.

Soon after Dravid's dismissal, Rahane too reached his fifty and finished the match with an impressive score of 63* off just 45 balls and had 5 boundaries and a lone six to his credit.

Earlier, a gritty half-century by Ben Rohrer guided Delhi Daredevils to a competitive 154/4 against Rajasthan Royals attack.

Rohrer scored an unbeaten 63 (40) and shared indomitable 76-run stand for the fifth wicket with KM Jadhav, who remained not out at 24 off 21 balls.

For Rajasthan, Siddharth Trivedi, Stuart Binny, Shane Watson and James Faulkner claimed a wicket each.

Opting to bat first, Delhi Daredevils were bamboozled by a fiery Rajasthan Royals pace attack.

Delhi suffered two quick blows early on in the match when they lost opener Virender Sehwag and CM Gautam in quick succession.

James Faulkner struck in his first over for the Royals to dismiss Sehwag (11), who was clean bowled.

In the very next over, Shane Watson forced debutant Gautam (2) to get a wicked outside edge only to be caught behind by keeper Sanju Samson.

Stuart Binny then joined the party when he scalped David Warner (13) by getting him caught by Sachin Baby at short cover.

Skipper Mahela Jayawardene then put up a hard-fought innings of 34 runs, which included 4 boundaries and a lone six, before he was dismissed by Siddharth Trivedi.

Earlier, Delhi Daredevils skipper Mahela Jayawardene has won the toss and elected to bat..

Six changes in Delhi as Morne Morkel, Ben Rohrer, Ajit Agarkar, Siddarth Kaul, Pawan Negi and Muralidharen Gautam replacing Jeevan Mendis, Johan Botha, Shahbaz Nadeem, Irfan Pathan, Ashish Nehra and Unmukt Chand.

For Rajasthan Royals, there have been two interesting changes. Shaun Tait and the 42-year-old legspinner Pravin Tambe have come in for Kevon Cooper and Ajit Chandila.

Teams:

Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (captain), Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny, Brad Hodge, Sanju Samson (wk), Sachin Baby, James Faulkner, Shaun Tait, Pravin Tambe, Siddharth Trivedi

Delhi Daredevils: Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Virender Sehwag, David Warner, Kedar Jadhav, Ben Rohrer, Muralidharen Gautam (wk), Ajit Agarkar, Morne Morkel, Pawan Negi, Umesh Yadav, Siddarth Kaul

Brief scores
Delhi Daredevils 154/4 (Rohrer 64*, Jayawardene 34)
Rajasthan Royals 155/1 (Rahane 63*, Dravid 53, Watson 28*)
Result Rajasthan Royals won by 9 wickets
Points Rajasthan Royals 2, Delhi Daredevils 0
MOM Ajinkya Rahane (Rajasthan Royals)