 Marsh storm blows Rajasthan Royals
29th May 2008 09:00 IST
Agencies
Shaun Marsh smashed a mesmerizing century to lead Kings XI Punjab to a convincing 41-run victory against Rajasthan Royals in their inconsequential IPL encounter at PCA stadium in Mohali Wednesday night.
Put in to bat, the Punjab team, riding on Marsh's 115-run knock reached a massive 221/3 and then restricted the visitors to 180/7 in their quota of 20 overs.
Young leg-spinner Piyush Chawla was the most successful bowler for the hosts with brilliant figures of 4-0-35-3.
Niraj Patel (57) and Yusuf Pathan (39) did their best for the Royals but their effort was not enough to overhaul the big target.
Though both the teams have already made the semifinal grade, which made the match inconsequential yet the Punjab team enter the knockout stage with the momentum.
It was just third defeat, coming in absence of regular captain Shane Warne, for the Rajasthan team out of 14 matches they have played so far in the tournament.
They still ended up at the top of the points table with 22 points followed by the winners with 20 points from 10 wins.
Royals' run chase, in the absence of reliable Graeme Smith, was far from ideal as they lost two early wickets in form of Mohammad Kaif (1) and Younis Khan (3).
Patel batted with grit and guile up the order and took on the rival attack with brave face, as he did not let the pressure of chasing big total buckle him.
The diminutive left-handed dominated the run-chase initially as when his 57-run knock ended, the team's score was 78 in 11 overs.
Patel was castled by Chawla and before departing he helped himself with 10 boundaries.
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