Royals stumble after Ojha fireworks
Naman Ojha enjoyed a marvellous innings scoring 80 runs from just 49 balls to help the Rajasthan Royals record a total of 177-8 against the Chennai Super Kings at a hot and sticky Sardar Patel Stadium..
The Royals got off to an electrifying start thanks to Michael Lumb who smashed Albie Morkel for a six over long-on from just the third delivery of the day to signal his intent on attacking from the start.
Lumb carried on his blitz finding the boundary on 3 more occasions before he hit Morkel for another huge six which sailed over the boundary as the Englishman raced to 30 from just 16 balls.
It proved to be his last contribution as Morkel hit back with the very next ball forcing Lumb into a mistake as he misjudged a slower ball and lobbed an easy catch up to Thilan Thushara at mid of.
The fireworks continued for the Royals with Lumb’s opening partner Ojha picking up from where Lumb left of smashing Muttiah Muralitharan for a big six over mid wicket as the Indian youngster past 50 of just 32 balls.
The Royals raced past 100 before the Super Kings struck back taking the wicket of Faiz Fazal (17) before danger man Yusuf Pathan (8) was caught by Suresh Raina at short cover to give Shadab Jakati his second wicket of the innings.
Having taken two quick wickets the Super Kings used spinners Muralitharan and Jakati to slow the Royals run rate down after such a rapid start as Dhoni’s side fought their way back into the game.
Having survived a run out chance Adam Voges played a perfect supporting roll allowing Ojha (80) to remain on strike as much as possible during the final 6 over until he was caught by Joginder Sharma to bring an end to his marvellous innings.
Voges (20) soon followed after being caught by Muralitharan to give Morkel his second wicket of the innings as the Royals started to stumble in the last the last few overs losing 5 wickets.
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (11) ensured the home side reached 177-8 which was 20 more runs then Shane Warne predicted at the toss but they will have been disappointed not to have reached 200 after such a good start.
The Royals got off to an electrifying start thanks to Michael Lumb who smashed Albie Morkel for a six over long-on from just the third delivery of the day to signal his intent on attacking from the start.
Lumb carried on his blitz finding the boundary on 3 more occasions before he hit Morkel for another huge six which sailed over the boundary as the Englishman raced to 30 from just 16 balls.
It proved to be his last contribution as Morkel hit back with the very next ball forcing Lumb into a mistake as he misjudged a slower ball and lobbed an easy catch up to Thilan Thushara at mid of.
The fireworks continued for the Royals with Lumb’s opening partner Ojha picking up from where Lumb left of smashing Muttiah Muralitharan for a big six over mid wicket as the Indian youngster past 50 of just 32 balls.
The Royals raced past 100 before the Super Kings struck back taking the wicket of Faiz Fazal (17) before danger man Yusuf Pathan (8) was caught by Suresh Raina at short cover to give Shadab Jakati his second wicket of the innings.
Having taken two quick wickets the Super Kings used spinners Muralitharan and Jakati to slow the Royals run rate down after such a rapid start as Dhoni’s side fought their way back into the game.
Having survived a run out chance Adam Voges played a perfect supporting roll allowing Ojha (80) to remain on strike as much as possible during the final 6 over until he was caught by Joginder Sharma to bring an end to his marvellous innings.
Voges (20) soon followed after being caught by Muralitharan to give Morkel his second wicket of the innings as the Royals started to stumble in the last the last few overs losing 5 wickets.
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (11) ensured the home side reached 177-8 which was 20 more runs then Shane Warne predicted at the toss but they will have been disappointed not to have reached 200 after such a good start.
