Delhi disappointed; Dravid-led RR triumph

RR made a couple of Chan(dila)ges to their playing eleven – Kevon Cooper and Ajit made way for Twenty20 debutant Pravin Tambe and Shaun Tait.

DD made half-a-dozen changes to their playing (Mork)eleven – Unmukt Chand, Jeevan Mendis, Irfan Pathan, Johan Botha, Shahbaz Nadeem, and Ashish Nehra made way for Chidhambaram Gautam, Ben Rohrer, Ajit Agarkar, Morne, Pawan Negi, and Siddarth Kaul.

On winning the toss, Mahela Jayawardene, DD’s skipper, chose to bat.

The first Powerplay of DD’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 42, and lost a couple of wickets.

Although his innings included a couple of boundaries, Virender Sehwag had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored 11. Ten balls into the match, James Faulkner broke the 19-run stand.

Gautam, who faced three balls, scored a couple. Half-a-dozen balls later, he was caught by Sanju Samson. Shane Watson broke the three-run stand.

David Warner, whose 18-ball (Sach)innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 13. Twenty-nine balls later, he was caught by Baby. Stuart Binny broke the 25-run stand.  

DD scored 50 off as many balls (8.2 overs). RR had conceded three extras at that point.

Jayawardene, whose 31-ball innings included four boundaries and a six, scored 34. Twenty-seven balls after Warner’s (Trive)dismissal, he was caught by his opposite number, Rahul Dravid. Siddharth broke the 31-run stand.

DD scored 100 off 15 overs (90 balls). RR had conceded four extras at that point.

The fifth-wicket pair put on 50 off 36 balls. While Rohrer’s contribution to the partnership was 26, Kedar Jadhav’s contribution to it was 20. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was four.

Rohrer’s half-century – which included eight boundaries – came off 36 balls.

DD scored 150 off 19.5 overs (119 balls). The number of extras they eventually conceded gave RR no reason to be in seventh heaven. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Rohrer, whose 40-ball innings included nine boundaries and a six, eventually scored 64. He was unbeaten, as was Jadhav, whose scored 23 off 21 balls, which included a couple of boundaries.

DD scored 154 for the loss of four wickets off 20 overs.

Tait, who bowled three overs, conceded 39. He was wicketless, as was Tambe, who bowled four overs, conceding 30.

Binny, who bowled a couple of overs, conceded three. He picked up a wicket.

Watson, who bowled three overs, conceded 21. He picked up a wicket.

Faulkner and Trivedi bowled four overs each, picking up a scalp apiece. While the former conceded 38, the latter conceded 21.

The first Powerplay of RR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 49, without the loss of a wicket.

RR’s openers put on 50 off 6.1 overs (37 balls). DD had conceded eight extras at that point. While Dravid’s contribution to the partnership was 28, the contribution of Ajinkya Rahane, the player of the match, to it was 14.

RR’s openers put on 100 off 12.3 overs (75 balls). DD had conceded 11 extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded. While Dravid’s contribution to the partnership was 50, Rahane’s contribution to it was 39.

Dravid’s half-century – which included seven boundaries – came off 45 balls.

He eventually scored 53 off 48 balls. Eighty-two balls into the chase, he was caught by Agarkar. Kaul broke the 108-run partnership.

Rahane’s half-century – which included five boundaries – came off 37 balls.

RR scored 150 off 17 overs (102 balls).

Rahane eventually scored 63 off 45 balls, which included the aforementioned number of boundaries, in addition to the six. He was unbeaten, as was Watson, who scored 28 off 14 balls, which included three boundaries and a six.

RR, who scored 155 for the loss of a wicket off 17.5 overs, won by nine wickets with 13 balls to spare.

Rohrer bowled a wicketless over, conceding 12.

Agarkar bowled two wicketless overs, conceding 22.

Umesh Yadav bowled three wicketless overs, conceding 28.

Morne and Negi bowled four wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 40, the latter conceded 28.

Kaul bowled 3.5 overs, including a maiden. He conceded 23, picking up the only wicket to fall.