 Pathan powers Rajasthan Royals to IPL triumph
2nd Jun 2008 01:00 IST
Agencies
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals used their bowling resources intelligently to restrict Chennai Super Kings to a modest 163/5.
Royals skipper Warne won the toss, asked the rival team to bat first and then captained the side imaginatively with his field placings and bowling changes, never allowing the Super Kings to settle down on a slow-pace track.
The Super Kings owed their score mainly to an enterprising 43 by in-form one-down batsman Suresh Raina, who faced only 30 balls while hitting two pulled sixes and a four.
The UP left-hander, back in the Indian one-day team, built on a decent start of 39 in 5.2 overs provided by Parthiv Patel (38 in 33 balls) and Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan (16 in 14 balls).
But his dismissal in the 17th over when he threatened to cut loose derailed Chennai's plans for a healthier total.
The most impressive bowler for the Royals was off-spinner Pathan, who grabbed 3/22 in two spells while Watson accounted for the wicket of Raina.
The Super Kings, who had lost their two home and away ties earlier in the tournament to the same opposition, began their innings on a cautious note on a slow-paced track of low bounce on which the ball did not come on freely to the bat.
Patel and Sivaramakrishnan played it safe against Tanvir, who had grabbed 6/14 against them on May 4 at Jaipur.
Seeing the mood of the two openers, Warne removed the Pakistani left-arm pacer, the most successful bowler in the tournament, after only one over.
The run-rate perked up when Sivaramakrishnan played an inside-out cover drive off Watson and then was lucky when his top-edge flew over the third man fence for a six.
Patel, coming into the match on the back of an unbeaten 51 last night in the semifinal against Kings XI Punjab, was content to see off Tanvir by facing five dot balls and then hitting his first four. He was also lucky to see his top edge off Munaf Patel race to the fence.
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