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Warne spins it Royals' way

G. Viswanath

NAGPUR: Rajasthan Royals beat Deccan Chargers by two runs in dramatic fashion in their DLF-IPL III encounter at the VCA Ground, Jamtha, here on Monday. With this victory, Royals took its tally to 10 points.

Shane Warne teased and tormented the Chargers batsmen, and it was his four-wicket haul that played a major part in his team's win. Warne's final analysis read 4-0-21-4 and his victims included Anirudh Singh, Azhar Bilakhia, Dwayne Smith and Ryan Harris.

After the opening flurry from Adam Gilchrist, Chargers appeared to be approaching the target of 160 with a fair degree of confidence. However, its lower-order failed to cope with the pressure imposed by the spin wizard. Rohit Sharma (73) did his best for Chargers before being the last man out, caught at deep cover in the terrific last over bowled by Siddharth Trivedi.

Gilchrist later admitted that some players may have panicked in the end and some poor fielding too cost his team the match.

Royals took a bold step by dropping fast bowlers Shaun Tait and Sumit Narwal and bringing in South African Morne Morkel and Maharashtra seamer Aditya Dole. Chargers made five changes, fell back on the experienced left-arm seamer Rudra Pratap Singh and also included Australian Ryan Harris in the line-up.

Harris was in the thick of action all through. He took a a fine running catch at deep midwicket to dismiss Royals' opener Michael Lumb. The Australian was also involved in Naman Ojha's dismissal, taking the catch at cover.

However, he dropped Shane Watson on eight and the Aussie opener helped Royals recover and set a target of 160 with his second half-century in as many matches. With Faiz Fazal, Watson put on 77 for the third wicket.

Yusuf Pathan, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Abhishek Raut fell in a heap, but it was Watson's dismissal in the 17th over that helped Chargers peg back Royals in the last three overs.

Warne and his men, however, made a royal comeback to prevail in a tense finish.

The scores:

Rajasthan Royals: M. Lumb c Harris b R.P. Singh 15 (10b, 2x4, 1x6), N. Ojha c Harris b R.P. Singh 1 (5b), F. Fazal c Bilakhia b P. Ojha 36 (29b, 4x4), S. Watson c Anirudh b R.P. Singh 58 (36b, 3x4, 3x6), Y. Pathan c Laxman b Harris 5 (7b), A. Jhunjhunwala c Laxman b Harmeet 11 (8b, 1x4), A. Raut lbw b Harmeet 0 (3b), S. Warne (run out) 1 (4b), M. Morkel (not out) 7 (7b, 1x4), A. Dole c Symonds b Harris 4 (4b, 1x4), S. Trivedi b Smith 9 (6b, 2x4); Extras (b-2, lb-4, w-6): 12. Total (in 19.5 overs): 159.

Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-17, 3-94, 4-103, 5-130, 6-130, 7-136, 8-140, 9-145.

Deccan Chargers bowling: Harris 4-0-34-2, Smith 2.5-0-22-1, R.P. Singh 4-0-17-3, Harmeet 4-0-25-2, Symonds 2-0-18-0, P. Ojha 3-0-37-1.

Deccan Chargers: V.V.S. Laxman c Pathan b Dole 6 (9b, 1x4), A. Gilchrist c Lumb b Dole 34 (17b, 3x4, 3x6), Rohit Sharma c Raut b Trivedi 73 (44b, 8x4, 2x6), A. Symonds c Fazal b Trivedi 15 (20b, 2x4), Anirudh Singh c N. Ojha b Warne 9 (12b, 1x4), D. Smith c Dole b Warne 4 (7b), A. Bilakhia c Raut b Warne 2 (4b), R. Harris b Warne 1 (2b), R.P. Singh c Morkel b Trivedi 3 (5b), Harmeet (run out) 0 (0b), P. Ojha (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (b-1, lb-2, nb-1, w-6): 10. Total (in 19.5 overs): 157.

Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-47, 3-86, 4-112, 5-120, 6-137, 7-139, 8-156, 9-157.

Royals bowling: Pathan 2-0-3-0, Watson 3-0-40-0, Dole 4-0-42-2, Morkel 4-0-32-0, Trivedi 2.5-0-16-3, Warne 4-0-21-4 .

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