When Ajinkya Rahane takes guard, he brings with him a serene beauty. Whether in the cauldron of Test cricket, the middle ground of One-Day Internationals or the hurly-burly of Twenty20, Rahane remains unruffled.
Even when he’s smashing his way to 91 not out off just 54 balls. Even when he’s pulling fast bowlers for sixes over midwicket or dancing down to deposit legspinners into the sightscreen. Rahane provided the foundation, ballast and the window dressing in Rajasthan Royals’ imposing 189 for 2 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday (May 3), with Karun Nair’s 61 off 38 the pillar that provided support where most needed.
In reply, Delhi Daredevils could muster only 175 for 7, the 14-run win restoring Rajasthan to the top of the Pepsi IPL 2015 standings and breaking a sequence of five matches without victory. Fittingly, it came at a venue that is the latest ‘home’ for the franchise. Rajasthan now have 14 points from 11 matches and a foot in the playoff door. Delhi, with eight points from nine games, will need to scrap hard to break free of the mid-table clutter.
JP Duminy had opted to field on a pitch that had some green – and both sides thought the seamers would be a factor as evidenced by team selection. Delhi brought in Gurinder Sandhu for an IPL debut, opting to bench the prolific Imran Tahir. Rajasthan gave Rajat Bhatia his first match of the season in place of Ankit Sharma, and also brought back James Faulkner.
