Rajasthan Royals registered a much-needed win against the Pune Warriors India and won the thrilling contest by five wickets. Some sensational batting from Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane setup the match beautifully for Rajasthan as they added 98 runs for the opening stand while chasing a total of 179 runs at Sawai Man Singh stadium at Jaipur. Wayne Parnell picked up three wickets but failed to breach the fortress of RR as some blistering stroke play from Stuart Binny -- 32 runs off 13 balls – took the match away from Pune Warriors.
Here we bring to you the hits and flops from the match between Rajasthan Royals and Pune Warriors India.
HITS
Rahul Dravid: Dravid scored his third half-century of this season and made sure that his team gets an ideal start in this must win match. He scored a brilliant 58 runs off just 48 ball which was studded with nine fours and one six. He kept playing down the ground and didn’t give any chance to the bowler.
Wayne Parnell: Parnell was the only PWI bowler who made an impact as he picked up three wickets to put a break on their run chase. He picked up the wicket of Shane Watson, Sanju Samson and Brad Hodge at crucial times.
Robin Uthappa: Uthappa once again played a sensible innings of 54 runs off just 41 balls which was decorated with eight fours and one six. His ability to start off slowly gave Aaron Finch a chance to free his arms first. Uthappa and Finch had a mind-boggling partnership of 97 runs.
Ajinkya Rahane: Rahane once again played a terrific knock as he scored 67 runs off just 48 balls. He kept the momentum going after Dravid got out and played as many overs as he could. He scored six fours and two sixes in his sensational knock of 67 runs.
Aaron Finch: Finch played another brilliant innings as he scored 45 off 32 balls. He gave Pune Warriors India an ideal start to put up a huge total on the board. His bowling unit let him down in this tough match.
Stuart Binny: Binny played a great cameo of 32 runs off just 13 balls which took Rajasthan royals to yet another win. His ability to take on the bowlers from the very beginning of his innings makes him a special player. H wasn’t much impressive with the ball as he gave away 19 runs in his two overs.
Mitchell Marsh: Marsh played a crucial knock of 35 runs which helped Pune to setup a huge total of 178 runs on the board. He played some fantastic shots out of which three sailed over the ropes.
FLOPS
Angelo Matthews: Mathews was decent with the bat as he scored 18 run off 11 balls but he was once again thrashed all over when he came in to bowl. He gave away 34 runs in his three overs and picked up one wicket.
Brad Hodge: Hodge disappointed his fans as he got out after scoring just four runs. A better performance was expected from someone his calibre but he failed to deliver. His tendency of start smacking the ball didn’t worked out well.
Krishnakant Upadhyay: Upadhyay had a disastrous debut as he was smashed all over the park. He went for 29 runs in his three overs. He failed to pick up any wicket in his spell of three overs.
Rahul Sharma: Sharma once again turned out to be the worst bowler for Pune warriors. Being a front line spinner, he should have attacked but his erratic line and length got him punished as he gave away 38 runs in his four overs.
Ajit Chandila: Chandila was the weakest link In Rajasthan royals bowling in this match. He went for 23 runs in his two overs.
Shane Watson: Watson had a bad day not just with the ball but with the bat too. He got out after scoring just five runs and gave away 29 runs in his four overs. He failed to pick up any wicket in this match and was the biggest disappointment for RR.
By Amit Chopra
Indian Sports News Network
