Rajasthan Royals had relied extensively on their bowling to compete hard in this year's IPL but managed to rectify the blips in their erratic top order to build on a solid opening stand between Graeme Smith and Naman Ojha - whose promotion in the order proved a masterstroke - and post a substantial score. If Rajasthan got their tactics right, Punjab certainly did not, immediately undermining their decision to field in conditions favourable to seam bowling by opening with a spinner.
Romesh Powar's first over was a disaster as Ojha, replacing Swapnil Asnodkar as opener, used his feet to counter the flight and despatch Powar into the stands. Seven balls into the game and Rajasthan had equaled their highest opening partnership of 20 in this year's tournament - the first wicket had reached double figures just once in seven matches .
Though Yuvraj Singh realised his miscalculation and immediately reverted to pace the momentum had been seized and both Smith and Ojha, reserving their restraint only against Sreesanth - back in the team after a back injury had ruled him out for three months - timed their innings superbly, latching on to any available opportunity and consistently heightening the sense of regret in the opposing captain for gifting them the initiative in the first over.
Ojha adapted to the conditions perfectly after the fielding restrictions were lifted. Once Smith provided a fitting conclusion to the powerplay, dismissing the off-colour Yusuf Abdulla for successive fours, Ojha combined his naturally aggressive flow with some deft touches, late-cutting Piyush Chawla for a boundary and following that up with an even more delicate dab wide of third man off Abdulla to put on display his varied repertoire of strokes. Both batsmen used their feet against spinners - Ojha dancing down the track and Smith favouring the sweep - to prevent prevent spin, the IPL's main bowling weapon, from enjoying any element of success before the tactical timeout.
The break had caused the undoing of many a good start in this tournament, but the Rajasthan openers ensured their team held the advantage by picking up the pace. Smith's innings marked a contrast to his guarded approach against Delhi Daredevils, where, struggling for form, he took a backseat to Yusuf Pathan's monstrous onslaught which won them the game. Here, he led the charge, smashing Powar for a six in the eleventh over, and finding the gaps in the leg-side consistently, favouring the short-fine and the midwicket region, using the slog-sweep and the clip off the pads to good effect. The only lapse in his innings, before holing out to long-on in the 15th over, was a catch he offered to Mahela Jayawardene at short mid-on who dived to his right but failed to hold on.
Yusuf wasted little time to reveal his ferocity after the tournament's best opening stand, smashing Abdulla for a six and a four before mistiming an attempt to clear long-on off Chawla. Rajasthan had plenty of wickets to survive any inroads by Punjab, and though Ojha fell soon after, he had inflicted enough damage, including two sixes of his final three deliveries, for his partners to intensify in the remaining three overs.
Lee Carseldine, fresh from a fluent 39 in his previous game, and Ravindra Jadeja then combined to punish Irfan Pathan for 15 in the 18th over before Jadeja spoiled Sreesanth's figures in the penultimate over - partly a result of his own inconsistency, conceding two freehits - by smashing him for two fours and a six to steal 23 runs, and taking his team past 200, and to the highest score in the tournament. Yuvraj lost the plot in the very first over and, if Punjab's batsmen don't compensate for their team's tactical failure, the difference between the teams in the IPL standings will diminish even more.
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