IPL 8, RR VS DD : Ajinkya Rahane shines in tournament’s 500th match

Mumbai: The 500^th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) deserved a venue that celebrates the history of Indian cricket. The Brabourne Stadium, owned by the Cricket Club of India raised its collar after pocketing the special clash. Local boy Ajinkya Rahane made the occasion further memorable after slamming a 54-ball 91 to guide Rajasthan Royals to a comfortable 14-run win against Delhi Daredevils here on Sunday.

The 26-year-old, who lost his Orange Cap to David Warner for a day, regained it with style. Chasing 190, Delhi Daredevils could only manage 175 for the loss of seven wickets.

Delhi lost Mayank Agarwal (11) and the in-form Shreyas Iyer (9) upfront. With a six and a four, Agarwal looked in good touch. But he played on a rising ball from Stuart Binny. Soon, Iyer found the inside edge while trying to push a Shane Watson delivery that was way outside off.

Yuvraj Singh (22), still looking to justify his price (Rs 16 crore) in the tournament, almost took a leaf out of his heydays but that only lasted 18 deliveries.The southpaw’s elegance reflected for a brief period when he snatched three boundaries off Dhawal Kulkarni. But in the next over, he looked to clear the fence and Binny came out of nowhere to catch him at deep square leg off James Faulkner.

Among the Delhi batsmen, it was once again skipper JP Duminy who showed resistance. He scored a handsome 56 off 39 balls comprising three fours, three sixes. When Kulkarni caught him inside the circle, Faulkner couldn’t stop celebrating.

Earlier, Rajasthan were sluggish before Rahane upped the ante in the middle overs. Nathan Coulter-Nile and Zaheer Khan kept it tight initially. At the end of seven overs, they’d managed only 53 on board losing Watson. Batting comfortably on 21, the skipper nicked an outswinger from Angelo Mathews, it was a sitter for Kedar Jadhav.

IPL 8: ‘We even prayed for people in Nepal,’ says Ajinkya Rahane

However, Rahane played like a champion and kept the scoreboard ticking. His ferocious pull off Coulter-Nile to reach his half-century and straight drive off Khan towards the end of the innings reflected his hard work at the nets. Ironically, his coach Pravin Amre is one of the assistant coaches of the Delhi franchise. He must have had mixed emotions seeing his ward destroy the Delhi bowlers.

But the Mumbaikar had a bit of luck working too. He was dropped on 34 by Gurinder Sandhu and once again, on 66, by Khan-Amit Mishra. The Rahul Dravid-coached team raised eyebrows when Karun Nair walked in at No 3 instead of Steve Smith. But the ploy worked in favour of Rajasthan. Fresh from his triple hundred in the Ranji Trophy, Nair was already under spotlight before the start of the cash-rich T20 tournament. He brightened it further with an edgy knock (61 off 38) that comprised six fours and two sixes.

IPL 8: Breaking Brad? Not possible, 19 years and still strong

Sandhu, included in place of Imran Tahir, will not like to relish his IPL debut. The Indian-origin speedster from Australia conceded 49 runs off his four overs. Nair reached his half-century ripping Sandhu apart for two boundaries and a six in the same over.

Eventually, it was Coulter-Nile who got the better of him. After being hit over deep midwicket for a six in the first ball, the Australian lured Nair for another big one. This time, he got the elevation right but misjudged the distance. Amit Mishra ran in from the deep cover region to take the catch. Barring Mathews (4-0-27-1 with an economy rate of 6.75), no other Delhi bowler looked lethal. Khan, who had a dream start to the tournament in the last tie, ran out of steam against the prowess of youngsters Rahane and Nair. He conceded 31 runs and remained wicketless.

Brief scores: RR 189/2 in 20 overs (A Rahane 91*, K Nair 61; A Mathews 1/27) beat DD 175/7 in 20 overs (JP Duminy 56, S Tiwary 28*; S Binny 2/27, D Kulkarni 2/43) by 14 runs