PUNE: Aussie power kept Rajasthan Royals alive and kicking in IPL-V as Shane Watson and Shaun Tait drove the inaugural champions to a seven-wicket win over Pune Warriors yesterday. Tait’s superlative bowling (three for 13) confined the home team to a paltry 125 after Sourav Ganguly elected to bat, and Watson’s rapid unbeaten 90 made the target appear even smaller than it was.
The win, achieved with 22 balls to spare, took Royals to fourth on the points table, while for Pune their sixth consecutive loss meant that the climb back into last-four contention now borders on the impossible.
Such was Watson’s dominance that he needed little help from any other batsman – the next highest score for Royals was 18. The Australian all-rounder revved into activity in the third over of the chase, going after Murali Karthik. After clearing long-on with a brutal strike, Watson went for a repeat and was almost caught by the incredible Steven Smith at the boundary.
Smith, a genuine contender for the best fielder in the world today, caught the ball and realising he was going to overstep the boundary, tossed the ball in, but failed to hurl it the required distance.
Smith pushed the ball in again – still beyond the boundary, but with both feet off the ground – and finally caught it on his third attempt. A six was declared, but full points to Smith for attempting an implausible catch at the boundary – something he’s been doing almost every bloody match.
Watson continued with the same intensity, reaching his fifty in 27 balls, and ended with ten fours, and four sixes, to his name, twice the number scored by the entire Pune team. He was named Man-of-the-Match, but there was another contender who could have justifiably staked his claim on that honour – Tait.
Tait bowled with fire as Pune struggled after electing to bat. The home team scored just five fours and two sixes to stagger to 125 – not the most ideal platform from which to arrest a five-match losing streak. Ganguly inexplicably assumed opening duties alongside Michael Clarke.