Marsh powers easy win

29th May 2008

With not only the semi-finals being decided, but also the line-ups being already known before the start of this match, this could have very well been rendered as a match only of academic interest. Having said that, both teams - Rajasthan Royals and the Kings XI Punjab - would want to clinch it very dearly, realising the importance of going into the knock-out stages with the momentum going one's way.

Shane Warne decided not to play himself in the match and got Shane Watson to lead the side. Mahesh Rawat made it to the team, and so did Younus Khan - playing his first game - while Punjab went in with Luke Pomersbach in place of Mahela Jayawardena and Wilkin Mota also came into the side.

The Punjab innings was opened by Shaun Marsh and James Hopes whereas Munaf Patel was the opening bowler for the Royals. He began with a good first over, conceding only five off it but after that, it was sheer carnage. Shane Watson was mauled in each of his three overs that he bowled in his first spell - he went for 8, 10 and 10 - whereas Munaf Patel's second over went for 12. Pankaj Singh pulled one back with a six-run over as Punjab reached their 50 at the end of the first Power Play.

The easing of the fielding restrictions had no adverse effect on the scoring and Pankaj Singh was hit for 17 runs off his second over. Dinesh Salunkhe came on in the eighth over, and conceded only seven in his first, and Siddharth Trivedi gave away four but in the process, Shaun Marsh brought about his fifty and the maximum runs in the tournament, thus laying claim to the Orange Cap. A six in the Salunkhe over, got Punjab to a healthy 88/0, and any kind of a score looked possible at that stage.

The eleventh over of the innings was bowled by Trivedi, and he was immediately taken for three consecutive fours by Hopes, as sixteen came in the over. Yusuf Pathan came on to bowl with a hope to stem the flow but was smashed for 24 in his first two overs. Fortunately, he did manage to snap up the wicket of Hopes for a well-made 51, as Punjab reached 135/1 in the 14th over. Any recovery from there would have been marginal; unfortunately, it only got worse for the Royals. Yuvraj Singh nudged for his first few deliveries as Marsh continued his ball-smashing spree, and reached his first century of the tournament; it came off only 58 deliveries. Somebody was apparently on fire!

However, once Marsh reached his ton, it was Yuvraj Singh who took over. The skipper took Trivedi to the cleaners, hitting him for three sixes in a row. Marsh did the same to Munaf Patel, and then Yuvraj hit his fourth one in four balls - Punjab 208/1 in 19 overs. The last over was bowled by Shane Watson and it went for 13 runs as Punjab ended with a blazing 221/3 in 20 overs. Yuvraj, unfortunately, was run out for 49 (16 balls).

The total was a huge one, and it required someone to muscle them through in the Power Play. Instead it was Mohammad Kaif who opened the innings with Niraj Patel. However, Kaif did not last long, and nor did the IPL debutant Younus Khan, both getting out for single digit scores. At the other end though, Niraj Patel batted like a man in charge of the situation. The run rate was obviously shooting up, but Patel first hit four boundaries in one Sreesanth over, and then a couple more in a James Hopes over. Royals 38/2 in 6 overs, and long, long away from the Punjab total.

The next five overs went for only forty - 'only' considering the asking rate was over 12 an over - as the spinners began to choke the scoring even further. Piyush Chawla was finally hit for a six by Patel and then perished off the very next. Yuvraj Singh brought himself onto bowl, but Yusuf Pathan tore into the part-time bowler, taking 20 off him. At the other end, Chawla kept pegging away, getting the dangerous Watson caught at the boundary. The Royals 109/4 in 13 overs, with another 113 to get off 7 overs!

Kamran Akmal did try making a match out of it by going all the way for three sixes, but then Chawla deceived the wicketkeeper-batsman to get him caught at the boundary. Rawat joined Pathan and hit Chawla for a six, and Pathan smacked another three 4s off Hopes, but by then the asking rate had soared up above twenty runs per over. Pathan did not get strike in the 18th over and this affected his rhythm, costing him his wicket in the next over for a rollicking 15-ball 39, as the Royals went down fighting by 41 runs.

With this win, the Kings XI Punjab got to 20 points, whereas the Royals maintained their top position in the table with 22 to their kitty. The semi-final line-up, which was already decided even before this match, would see the Kings XI Punjab taking on the Chennai Super Kings, and in the other match, the Rajasthan Royals would play the Delhi Daredevils.