Royals regain top spot

The Rajasthan Royals went back to the top of the Indian Premier League table with a comfortable seven wicket win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Centurion on Thursday.

The Royals stunned the Challengers with a clinical bowling performance on a SuperSport Park pitch which offered some assistance to the seam bowlers initially.

Shane Warne's decision after winning the toss was an easy one and he duly asked the Challengers to bat first, and they were in trouble following the dismissals of Wasim Jaffer, Jacques Kallis and Rahul Dravid in the first six overs.

The loss of Kallis and Dravid was especially crucial for the Challengers given their experience of conditions, and both fell in unfortunate circumstances. Dravid failed to score before edging a sharp lifter down the leg side which Royals wicketkeeper Naman Ojah did well to hold on to.
Kallis went in the next over, lifting Munaf Patel to Niraj Patel on the square leg boundary. Niraj let the ball slip between his fingers, but luckily it bounced off his knee and he reacted quickly enough to snaffle it before it touched the grass.

The innings, which needed a substantial partnership, never got one. The highest was 20, which is indicative of a batting effort that lacked momentum.

"Even in 20-over cricket you need partnerships and we didn't get any today," said Challengers captain Anil Kumble.

The Challengers were bowled out for 105 off the last ball of the innings. Amit Singh, who Kumble said he had only seen bowl on video, ended with 4/19 in an exhilarating spell of medium-fast bowling, while left-arm spinner Ravendra Jadeja claimed 3/15 in four overs.

The Royals had very little trouble chasing down the score. Graeme Smith made a quick 20 and when he got out, cleaned bowled by national teammate Kallis, there was a flash of hope for the Challengers.

'I'm really happy with the way we bowled'
They increased their self-belief when Ojah and Lee Carseldine got into such a mix-up that both ended up at the same end, and the TV umpire took five minutes and watched numerous replays before declaring Carseldine out.

Any hopes for the Challengers were snuffed out by a rapid partnership of 43 for the third wicket between Ojah and Yusuf Pathan that propelled the Royals to victory with five overs to spare, providing a boost to their run-rate, which is the worst among the teams in the top four on the table.

Ojah made up for his part in running Carseldine out by making an unbeaten 52 off 38 balls, including three fours and three sixes.

"I'm really happy with the way we bowled. We executed our plans really well, all-round it was a solid performance by the boys and it would be nice to carry the momentum from this win into the remaining part of the tournament," said Royals captain Warne.