Mathews-led PWI win; Rajasthan disappointed

PWI made a couple oF(in)changes to their playing eleven – Manish Pandey and Marlon Samuels made way for Aaron, the player of the match, and Yuvraj Singh.

RR made three changes to their playing eleven – Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, and Rahul Shukla made way for Kusal Perera, James Faulkner, and Harmeet Singh.

On winning the toss, Rahul Dravid, RR’s skipper, chose to bat.

The first Powerplay of RR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 44, and lost a wicket.

RR’s openers didn’t get off the (Ku)mark. Kusal, who faced a ball, didn’t open his account. A ball into the match, he was trapped leg before wicket by Bhuvneshwar.

RR scored 50 off 7.2 overs (45 balls). PWI had conceded a couple of extras at that point.

The second-wicket pair put on 50 off 44 balls. While Ajinkya Rahane’s contribution to the partnership was 19, Dravid’s contribution to it was 30. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was a couple.

Dravid’s half-century – which included eight boundaries – came off 43 balls.

Rahane, whose 27-ball innings included three boundaries, eventually scored 30. Sixty-seven balls after Kusal’s dismissal, he was caught by Angelo Mathews, PWI’s skipper. Rahul Sharma broke the 81-run partnership.

Stuart Binny, who faced four balls, scored a run. Half-a-dozen balls later, he was caught by Mitchell Marsh. Yuvraj broke the four-run stand.

Dravid eventually scored 54 off 48 balls. A dozen balls later, he was caught by Ross Taylor. Yuvraj broke the eight-run stand.

RR scored 100 off 14.5 overs (90 balls). PWI had conceded four extras at that point.

Brad Hodge, whose 19-ball innings included three boundaries, scored 22. He was unbeaten.

Dishant Yagnik, whose eight-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored a dozen. Nine balls after Dravid’s dismissal, he was caught by Tirumalasetti Suman. Rahul Sharma broke the 13-run stand.

Faulkner, whose 14-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 19. He was unbeaten.

The number of extras they eventually conceded gave PWI no reason to be in seventh heaven.

RR scored 145 for the loss of five wickets off 20 overs.

Marsh, who bowled a wicketless over, conceded 10.

Ashok Dinda, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 21.

Mathews, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 27.

Bhuvneshwar, who bowled four overs, conceded 41. He picked up a wicket.

Yuvraj and Rahul Sharma bowled four overs each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. While the former conceded 27, the latter conceded 16.

The first Powerplay of PWI’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 64, and lost a wicket.

PWI’s openers put on 50 off 3.4 overs (23 balls). RR had conceded a couple of extras at that point. While Robin’s contribution to the (Uthap)partnership was 31, Finch’s contribution to it was 17.

Uthappa, whose 16-ball innings included three boundaries and a couple of sixes, eventually scored 32. Thirty balls into the chase, he was caught by Dravid. Faulkner broke the 58-run partnership.

Finch’s half-century – which included five boundaries and three sixes – came off 36 balls.

PWI scored 100 off 11.2 overs (69 balls). RR had conceded five extras at that point.

Taylor, whose 20-ball innings included a six, scored 17. Forty-three balls later, he was caught by Hodge. Harmeet broke the 46-run stand.

Finch, whose 53-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries, in addition to the aforementioned number of sixes, eventually scored 64. Five overs later, Faulkner broke the 27-run stand.

Yuvraj, whose 23-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and as many sixes, scored 28. He was unbeaten, as was Mathews, who faced a ball, scoring one.

RR eventually conceded half-a-dozen extras. PWI, who scored 148 for the loss of three wickets off 18.4 overs, lost by seven wickets with eight balls to spare.

Sreesanth, who bowled 2.4 overs, conceded 38. He was wicketless, as were Siddharth Trivedi and Kevon Cooper, who bowled four overs apiece. While the former conceded 31, the latter conceded 26.

Harmeet, who bowled four overs, conceded 34. He picked up a wicket.

Faulkner, who bowled four overs, conceded 17. He picked up a couple of scalps.