Ground: | Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur |
Scorecard: | Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab |
Player: | MJ Lumb, Yuvraj Singh, DPMD Jayawardene |
Event: | Indian Premier League 2009/10 |
After a heart-stopping match against Deccan Chargers, Rajasthan Royals gave a clinical performance to put up a comprehensive win against a colourless Kings XI Punjab. The comprehensive nature of the win could be gauged from the fact that they won the match with 5 overs to spare.
 
Sangakkara decided to make use of the pitch that would slow down as the match progressed and his openers Bisla and Jayawardene got after some ordinary bowling. The openers added 29 in 3.3 overs before a bouncer from Watson proved too hot for Bisla (20, 14b, 4x4) who pulled it straight to Fazal at square-leg. Sangakkara (9, 7b, 1x4) continued to disappoint as he was removed cheaply and Jayawardene was joined at the crease by Yuvraj Singh. Both the batsmen got into form in the previous game and the two began out the attack to the sword.
 
Shane Warne who spun a web of deception over Deccan Chargers looked quite ordinary as Yuvraj on three occasions deposited the Rajasthan skipper into the stands. Punjab reached 103 for 2 after 11 and a formidable total was on the cards. Dole was given the ball in the twelfth over and that over brought about a change in the game. Dole had Yuvraj (28, 16b, 3x6, 1x4) dragging a short ball onto hi middle stump while Jayawardene (44, 33b, 1x6, 6x4) two balls later edged an outswinger Warne who placed himself at second slip. Those two blows sucked out th momentum and it was an uphill task for the visitors.
 
Ravi Bopara (8, 11b) looked lost in the middle before being comically run-out. The rest of the batsmen failed to cash on the early momentum as Punjab only managed 27 runs in the final five overs, with no boundaries. At the end of th 20th over Punjab could post only 153 for the loss of 6 wickets.
 
Rajasthan Royals in reply got off to a blistering start as Lumb and Ojha hammered the Kings XI Punjab out of sight. The fielding from the Punjab side was filled with so many whimsical incidents that left coach Tom Moody scratching his head. it started with Powar letting a cut shot from Lumb through his legs and from there everything began to go wrong. Sreesanth lost his cool in the second over of the innings and was seen being reprimanded by Yuvraj on the field.
 
Lumb continued his his aggressive fashion as he brought up his maiden IPL fifty. There was no looking back for the hosts though Lumb (83, 43b, 2x6, 16x4) was dismissed going for another maximum. Ojha (44 not out, 37b, 1x6, 4x4) and and Yusuf Pathan (21 not out, 13b, 2x6) ensured that the formalities were completed without any further hiccups.