2 May, 2008
Royals too flash

Unlikely duo Yusuf Pathan and Swapnil Asnodkar struck rapid half-centuries to lead Rajasthan Royals to a 45-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL on Thursday.

Asnodkar plundered 60 and Yusuf 55 as the Royals posted 7-196 on the way to their fourth win of the competition.

Sourav Ganguly and David Hussey offered some resistance with a stand of 71, but received precious little support from their team-mates as the visitors slumped to their third straight defeat.

Ganguly made 51 and Hussey 42 as the Knight Riders were bowled out for 151, their last five wickets falling for just eight runs.

Kolkata struck early as Graeme Smith (two) perished in only the second over, his leg stump sent cartwheeling by Ishant Sharma.

Mohammad Kaif and Asnodkar then began what threatened to develop into a sizeable partnership, the former cracking three fours from his opening six balls, crashing two through the off side and guiding one down to the third-man boundary.

But Kaif fell on 21 when he chipped a delivery straight back to Ajit Agarkar.

Asnodkar though continued to treat the bowlers with contempt, stroking the ball to all areas of the ground.

His new partner Yusuf took a back seat as Asnodkar romped to a rapid half-century, making 60 from just 34 balls before he mis-timed an Umar Gul delivery and Hussey pouched a simple catch.

The Pakistan quick struck again almost immediately to dismiss Shane Watson lbw for a first-ball duck.

But the right-hand left-hand combination of Yusuf (55 off 33), who brought up his half-century with a maximum onto the canvas roof of the stands, and Ravindra Jadeja (33 off 19) proved profitable for the Royals before both fell late on.

Gul claimed his third dismissal of the innings by clean bowling Yusuf through the gate.

The Royals claimed three early wickets to pave their way to victory, Salman Butt (seven) and Agarkar (20) both heading back to the pavilion before Brad Hodge followed them after an unfortunate dismissal confirmed by the third umpire.

The Australian was run out by Siddharth Trivedi for one, the bowler getting the lightest of touches onto a Ganguly shot to deflect the ball onto the stumps at the other end.

And when Ganguly was expertly caught in the deep by Kaif, who just managed to stop himself toppling backwards over the boundary rope, the writing was on the wall for the Knight Riders.


2 May, 2008
Marsh bogs down Chargers

Shaun Marsh provided a glimpse of Australia's batting future as he anchored the Kings XI Punjab to a seven-wicket win over Deccan Chargers on his Indian Premier League debut on Thursday night.

The 24-year-old left-hander will join the Australia team following the IPL for its one-day series in the Caribbean next month - his first international tour.

That call-up came on the back of a domestic season that earned him Western Australia's player-of-the-year award, and he proved he was just as capable on the slower Indian wickets as on the harder surface of the WACA Ground with an unbeaten knock of 84 from 62 balls.

After opening the innings Marsh displayed a cool head under pressure, preferring to pick the gaps in the field than rely on heavy hitting.

He hit 11 fours and one six in his innings and in Mahela Jayawardene (45 not out) he found a partner equally adept at his craft as they passed their victory target of 8-164 with seven balls remaining.

Eleven of the 18 games played at the Ranjiv Gandhi International Stadium have been won by the team batting second and with that in mind King Punjab XI captain Yuvraj Singh won the toss and elected to field.

VVS Laxman survived an early scare when he was dropped by Kumar Sangakkara in the opening over, however the hosts did claim the key early wickets of Adam Gilchrist (six) and Herschelle Gibbs (seven).

Laxman was let off the hook a second time, Marsh dropping a hot chance off Piyush Chawla at mid-wicket, before he finally fell to the young Indian leg-spinner, spooning a catch to Yuvraj at cover for 48 from 34 balls.

The home innings then threatened to descend into chaos as they lost three wickets for eight runs to be 6-98 after 14 overs.

However, Rohit Sharma proved his own rising talent with an unbeaten 76 from 42 balls to help his team to a defendable 8-164.

The Kings XI reply began brightly with Ramnaresh Sarwan and Marsh trading boundaries before the West Indian was unluckily run out at the non-striker's end, a Marsh straight drive tipped onto the stumps by bowler Sanjay Bangar, for 15 off 15 balls.

Sangakkara (three) and Yuvraj (14) followed in quick succession, but Marsh remained cool under the pressure of falling wickets to nudge the ball around the field.

The West Australian brought up his half-century from 35 balls and with Jayawardene put on an unbeaten 81 runs to guide the visitors to their third consecutive victory and leave the Chargers languishing at the wrong end of the table with just one win.