By IANS,
Port Elizabeth : Rajasthan Royals recovered from a disastrous start before finishing off an exciting three-wicket victory over formidable Deccan Chargers in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here Saturday.
Rajasthan Royals executed its bowling plan to perfection, restricting Deccan Chargers to 141 for five.
But the Royals’ chances took a beating as their their top-order cracked in just two overs, losing three wickets for three runs. Lee Carseldine (39) and Abhishek Raut (36 not out) revived their fortunes before Shane Warne (21) and Yusuf Pathan (24) hit some mighty blows at the end.
Just when Pathan looked close to pulling off another cliffhanger, his mishit landed straight in the hands of Herschelle Gibbs in the 18th over, throwing the match open.
With 11 required from 12 balls, some appalling fielding by Chargers helped Royals on their way to victory with two balls to spare.
Rohit Sharma undid his good job with the bat when he misfielded, allowing Raut four runs through square leg in the critical moment.
Fiery Fidel Edwards was determined to deny Challengers even with two needed in the last over, bowling two dot balls. Shane Harwood and Raut were involved in a mix-up in the third delivery, but managed to scamper back to their ends.
The winning run came through another missed run-out chance.
With the win, Royals climbed to fourth place in the standings.
Earlier, Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist’s (39 off 35) blitz that included five fours and two sixes was halted by Ravindra Jadeja who had him caught by Pathan.
Rohit Sharma (38) and T.Suman (41 not out) added 59 runs for the fourth wicket, but Royals bowlers stuck to their job, not allowing Chargers to score freely.
Royals’ top-order misfired again. Graeme Smith departed in the first over of the innings, attempting an upper-cut off Edwards. Swapnil Asnodkar was run out in the next over before Ojha gave a straight catch to Gibbs.
Carseldine hit Dwayne Smith for three fours and then struck R.P. Singh for two more in the last powerplay overs to bring Royals back into the match.
Carseldine and Ravindra Jadeja kept Royals alive with a 51 run-stand before Warne swatted Venugopal Rao for two sixes and a four after being dropped by the bowler in the same over.
After Warne’s dismissal, Pathan took the attack to the opposition, hitting Shoaib Ahmed for two sixes.