The turnout at the De Beers Diamond Oval on Monday for the Rajasthan Royals-Deccan Chargers match wasn't as big as it was for Saturday's doubleheader. Because it was a working day, about half of the stadium was empty and most of those who came were fooling around in the Rajasthani moustache distributed in the stands by Royals officials.
The fans were rooting for them too. "Graeme Smith, Shane Warne and Yusuf Pathan, who else could I root for," said Aslam, who runs a grocery shop here after migrating from Surat six years ago. "Don't think my team will have much of a chance if the Chargers cross 160." Aslam's words would turned out to be prophetic as the Chargers sealed a 53-run win.
It was another match highlighted by moderate efforts instead of big ones that IPL fans expect. The Chargers were off to a busy start thanks to T Suman, who achieved the rare distinction of outshining Adam Gilchrist and justified his inclusion in the XI ahead of Herschelle Gibbs.
But the Chargers lost Suman before he could translate the promising start into anything bigger. And whenever his team looked like taking charge they lost a wicket. Rohit Sharma didn't get a start, Andrew Symonds fell after a some quick scoring and in the end, it was up to Dwayne Smith, Chaminda Vaas and Venugopala Rao to get the team to a substantial score. Smith was once again the principal aggressor.
Those supporting the Royals knew it was going to be a tough chase. Vaas made their fears come true early on and dealt the chase a body blow by getting rid of Graeme Smith. With RP Singh not having the best of days, it was important for Chargers to make the new ball count and they found their man of the day in the Lankan veteran.
{{/usCountry}}Those supporting the Royals knew it was going to be a tough chase. Vaas made their fears come true early on and dealt the chase a body blow by getting rid of Graeme Smith. With RP Singh not having the best of days, it was important for Chargers to make the new ball count and they found their man of the day in the Lankan veteran.
{{/usCountry}}The role played by Vaas in his first match of the tournament was impossible to ignore. With bat and ball, he was shining bright under the lights.
Scoreboard
Deccan Chargers: T Suman c Carseldine b Trivedi 29 (19b, 3x4, 1x6), A Gilchrist lbw b Pathan 10 (11b, 1x6), R Sharma st Ojha b Jadeja 9 (14b), A Symonds b Jadeja 30 (19b, 2x4, 1x6), D Smith c Raut b Pathan 47 (32b, 4x6), C Vaas c Carseldine b Pathan 20 (15b), Y Venugopal Rao c Jadeja b Warne 12 (7b, 2x4), Ravi Teja not out 7 (3b, 1x4), RP Singh not out 0 (0b);
Extras (lb 1, w 1) 2
Total (7 wickets) 166
Fall of wkts: 1-21, 2-42, 3-70, 4-83, 5-120, 6-155, 7-164
Bowling: M Morkel 3-0-20-0 (1w), M Patel 1-0-3-0, Y Pathan 4-0-34-3, S Trivedi 3-0-33-1, S Warne 4-0-36-1, R Jadeja 4-0-26-2, A Raut 1-0-13-0.
Rajasthan Royals: G Smith lbw b Vaas 1 (3b), S Asnodkar run out 44 (39b, 6x4, 1x6), L Carseldine st Gilchrist b Vaas 8 (11b, 1x4), N Ojha run out 16 (14b, 2x4), Y Pathan c Smith b Ojha 6 (7b), R Jadeja not out 19 (20b), A Raut b Sharma 1 (2b), M Morkel c Ravi Teja b Sharma 8 (8b, 1x4), S Warne b Sharma 0 (1b), S Trivedi b Singh 1 (5b), M Patel run out 5 (7b)
Extras: (lb-1, w-3) 4
Total: (19.3 ovs) 113
Fall of wkts: 1-5, 2-19, 3-43, 4-74, 5-83, 6-85, 7-96, 8-97, 9-99, 10-113
Bowling: R Singh 4-0-22-1, C Vaas 4-0-19-2, A Symonds 4-0-30-0, P Ojha 3.3-0-25-1, D Smith 1-0-4-0, R Sharma 3-0-12-3.
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