JAIPUR, April 12 (PTI): Opener Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha chipped in with useful contributions as Rajasthan Royals registered a comprehensive six-wicket victory over Delhi Daredevils in the Indian Premier League here today.
After restricting Delhi to 151 for six, Rajasthan overhauled the target with nine balls to spare at the floodlit Sawai Man Singh stadium, to hand over the Daredevils their second consecutive defeat in the league.
Dravid (38) hit six fours and a six in his 31-ball stay while Botha produced an unbeaten 39 off 32 deliveries.
With 11 runs required from the last two overs, New Zealander Ross Taylor (18) cracked a four off Ashok Dinda and then hit him for a huge six over midwicket boundary. The hosts made 152 for four in 18.3 overs.
Chasing a stiff 152-run target, Dravid (38) started proceeding on an aggressive note as 26 runs came in the first three overs.
Dravid hit two fours off Dinda in the third over to make his intention clear. But Dinda soon got his act together and disturbed Paunikar�s stumps with a fullish delivery.
Sehwag introduced Irfan Pathan in the fourth over and Dravid took him for special treatment, clobbering him for two fours and a six to accumulate 15 runs.
Next change van der Merwe also got the same treatment as both Dravid and Botha, who came to the crease after the dismissal of Paunikar, hit him for three fours to take the home team�s score past 50 in 5.3 overs.
But ven der Merwe soon took his revenge in the form of Dravid�s wicket, who was caught by wicketkeeper Naman Ojha while trying to slice the ball towards point.
Local boy Ashok Maneria (22) teamed up with Botha as both kept the scorebord tickling with occasional boundaries.
Maneria was more aggressive of the two as he clobbered van der Merwe for two sixes in the 10th over to bring the asking rate under eight runs per over.
Pathan, who hardly looked threatening in his first spell, was again bought back into the attack by Sehwag, and he responded by accounting for Maneria�s wicket.
It was a short of length delivery outside off and Menaria punched it straight to Sehwag at short extra cover.
Ajinkya Rahane (18), who was included in the playing eleven in place of Stuart Binny, hit Pathan for a six to take the team�s total past 100-run mark in 12.1 overs.
Morkel accounted for Rahane�s wicket in the 16th over as the right-hander went for an ugly across-the-line hook. Botha and Taylor then took Rajasthan home without any further damage.
For Delhi Dinda, Morkel, Pathan, Merwe got one wicket apiece.
Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss, opener David Warner and Venugopal Rao struck brisk half-centuries to rescue Daredevils from a dismal start and steer them to a fighting 151 for six.
Warner (54) and Rao (60) put on a 83-run partnership for the fifth wicket as Daredevils, from 29 for two in five overs and 36 for four in eight, rallied to cross the 100-run mark.
Warner struck six fours and a six in his 44-ball innings, while Rao hit four fours and as many sixes during his 40-ball stay to lift Delhi from a precarious situation.
The visitors were off to a dismal start losing two wickets in the form of skipper Virender Sehwag (4) and Aaron Finch (11) inside the first six overs.
SCORECARD
Delhi Daredevils: Warner c Raut b Singh 54, Sehwag c Dravid b Tait 4, Finch c Botha b Tait 11, Unmukt c Dravid b Warne 2, Ojha c Tait b Warne 0, Venugopal Rao c Warne b Trivedi 60, Irfan Pathan not out 9, Roelof van der Merwe not out 2. Extras: (LB-4, W-3, NB-2) 9. Total: (for 6 wickets in 20 overs) 151. Fall of wickets: 1-5, 2-29, 3-36, 4-36, 5-119, 6-139. Bowling: Tait 4-0-40-2, Amit Singh 4-1-18-1, Botha 4-0-36-0, Trivedi 4-0-36-1, Warne 4-0-17-2.
Rajasthan Royals: Amit Paunikar b Dinda 5, Rahul Dravid c Ojha b van der Merwe 38, Johan Botha not out 39, Ashok Menaria c Sehwag b Pathan 22, Ajinkya Rahane b Morkel 18, Ross Taylor not out 18. Extras: (B 4, LB 5, W 1, NB 2) 12. Total: (for 4 wickets in 18.3 overs) 152. Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-61, 3-92, 4-121. Bowling: Ashok Dinda 3.3-0-34-1, Morne Morkel 4-0-11-1, Irfan Pathan 3-0-32-1, van der Merwe 4-0-41-1, S Nadeem 4-0-25-0.
