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A perfect start to what seems to be a promising campaign for the Rajasthan Royals. A commanding all-round performance from the Royals saw them brush aside KXIP without much difficulty.
Royals got off to a great start, scoring at 10 an over in the Powerplay, thanks to wonder-boy Ajinkya Rahane and captain Rahul Dravid. Dravid scored a quickfire 28 and played the supporting role as his counter-part Rahane stole the show with amazing shots on both sides of the wicket. He scored 98, unlucky to miss out on a century as he was bowled in the final over. The Rajasthan batsmen capitalised on the inexperience of the Punjab bowling, posting a mammoth 191-4. Even the experienced Praveen Kumar was hit for four boundaries in one over by Rahane.
After Dravid got out going for a big shot, Menaria departed soon. Then Hodge joined Rahane and steadied the ship. Later it was Shah who supported Rahane who went about his business, though wickets fell at the other end. Surprise inclusion Kevon Cooper provided the momentum in the end scoring 11 off the last three deliveries.Set a mammoth target, Punjab got off to a decent start as Gilchrist looked in good touch. Gilchrist was dropped by Trivedi and it seemed like the Aussie legend’s day. But he soon got out trying to up the tempo. After Gilchrist departed none of the Punjab batsmen seemed to trouble the scorecard. They kept losing wickets in regular intervals as they were reduced to 61-4 in 8 overs. All hopes were on David Hussey to see Punjab through, but a required rate of 12 was a tall ask for the Australian veteran as well. After Hussey departed Mandeep and Bipul got together stitching a partnership to restore some hope. But with the required rate climbing to 15 both of them got out to left-arm off-spinner Chavan in the same over.
Punjab in the end fell short by 31 runs ending at 160-9. Kevon Cooper was the star as he picked up 4 wickets for 26 in his 4 overs. All the batsmen failed to pickup the slow ones as they either skied the ball or missed it completely. He also held on to two catches and was involved in a run-out. The West-Indian had a perfect IPL debut.
Man of the Match was Ajinkya Rahane for his stupendous performance with the bat. He scored 98 in 66 deliveries with 16 fours and a six.
