From the iSport Cricket Paddock: iSporter and RR fan Akshay Iyer carefully chalks out the reason behind the 'Royal' loss against the Daredevils. Read his post-match analysis here!
It only took Dinesh Karthik and Delhi Daredevils captain Gautam Gambhir a few minutes to rest the initiative and momentum from Shane Warne’s Rajasthan Royals at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium last night. After the Daredevils had put up a total of 188 for 6, it was always going to be a tough chase, and with the disastrous start that they had, the Royals were never in the hunt.
The loss by 67 runs has not only halted the Royals’ winning momentum, but it has also showed up the team’s reliance on Yusuf Pathan with the bat, and more worryingly, the inability to chase down huge scores. Gambhir, who won the toss and elected to bat first, was made to rue his decision as the Royals dismissed four Daredevils batsmen inside the first nine overs with only 67 runs on the board. Sumit Narwal struck the first two blows for the Royals in the fourth over of the innings as he took out the dangerous Daredevils’ opening duo of David Warner and Virender Sehwag. Narwal was especially over the moon when he castled Warner as Siddharth Trivedi had dropped a sitter off the Australian batsman in his first over.
Paul Collingwood and Kedar Jadhav were also sent back to the dugout in a hurry, and at this time the Royals were right on top. Warne showed a preference for opening the bowling with a spin bowler, and against the Daredevils too, Yusuf bowled the first over while Adam Voges bowled the third over. While it is a good tactic once in a while against a pair of opening batsmen who aren’t comfortable against spin, adopting the strategy in most matches makes it almost predictable, and this is an area that Warne and the Royals’ management needs to think about.
Shaun Tait has been impressive in Royals’ last three matches, but from the moment Collingwood smashed a six over deep square leg in the Australian slinger’s first ball, one could sense it would not be his day. Tait’s strength is his slingy action and raw pace, but when he fails to bowl at a decent line and length, those strengths become weaknesses, as was the case against the Daredevils. He bowled the most expensive spell of IPL-3 to date with figures of 4-0-53-1 as he conceded 12, 11 (14th over), 19 (18th over) and 11 (20th over) runs in each of his overs. Tait’s job was to end the partnership between Gambhir and Karthik, but he and the other Royals’ bowlers made the job easier for the Daredevils’ duo.
Gambhir and Karthik’s partnership of 79 runs was the foundation for the Daredevils’ imposing score, but they were also helped by the toothless Royals’ bowling in the latter half of the innings. The Daredevils scored 109 runs for the loss of only two wickets in the last 10 overs of their innings, with Karthik being the star with a knock of 69 off only 38 balls. Warne (1-26) was the standout bowler for the Royals and was treated with respect by Gambhir and Karthik, but the same can’t be said for the other Rajasthan bowlers. The inability of the bowling attack to restrict the Daredevils to a sub-155 total after delivering early blows is another area that the Royals’ management needs to look at apart from ground fielding.
The Royals were never in the hunt after Farveez Maharoof dismissed Michael Lumb and Faiz Fazal in the first over. Though wicket keeper-batsman Naman Ojha and Yusuf played cameos, they failed to hang around long enough to pose any threat to the Daredevils. The fact that only three batsmen – Ojha, Yusuf and Paras Dogra – scored 20 or more is an apt picture of the inability of the Royals to post a meaningful run chase. In fact, Ojha’s 27 was the highest individual score in the Royals’ total of 121 in 17.4 overs.
Yusuf is the only batsman in the Royals’ squad who infuses fear in the opposition, and the other teams know once they have dismissed the Baroda all-rounder, the rest of the batting is going to fold up more often than not. It is time the other top-order Royals batsmen also start creating an impression on the opposition. The Royals also need to take a leaf out of the Daredevils’ book and learn how to keep the opposition pinned after delivering early blows. It is certainly not the time to press the panic button after the first loss in five matches, but remedial measures need to be taken to ensure that the winning momentum is regained in the Royals’ next match.
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