Rajasthan reach second place on IPL table

JAIPUR: Delhi Daredevils lost ninth match in 12 as they were beaten by nine wickets against Rajasthan Royals who maintained their unbeaten home record to reach second place on the table here on Tuesday.
Royals' seventh straight victory in Jaipur was founded first on robust bowling as Siddharth Trivedi, Shane Watson, Stuart Binny and 41-year-old debutant Pravin Tambe struck upon a collective consistency that erased the damage done in Shaun Tait's early, wayward overs. Their openers then flew to an unbeaten century stand and ensured Daredevils' modest total would not challenge them.
Ajinkya Rahane, who opened alongside Rahul Dravid, finished not out on 63 from 45 balls, after he hit the winning run in the 18th over. Dravid had more of the strike in the early overs, and though he was the slower scorer, reached his fifty first, before departing for 53, at 108 for 1.
It was Royals' bowling which muzzled a seasoned Delhi Daredevils top order. Tait began the match with an 11-run over and his second cost 17. But James Faulkner and Watson had struck once each in between those Tait overs, and that was enough to scare Mahela Jayawardene and David Warner into relative reticence.
Daredevils opted to bat first but the visitors were barely scoring at six an over inside the Powerplay and when Warner departed in the eighth over to leave his side at 47 for 3, the run rate dipped further still. Jayawardene attempted a measured rescue, but fell too, before he could make any meaningful impact, and were it not for a well-paced 64 not out from Ben Rohrer, Daredevils may not have reached 154 for four.
Royals' openers went about playing orthodox cricket with just the level of aggression required for such a chase. Rahane began with more nerves but he found the going simple enough in the end.
Watson arrived after Dravid's fall in the 14th over and struck two powerful fours off Umesh Yadav as Rahane coasted beyond 50 at the other end. The pair blasted one six apiece in the 17th over to take their side to the brink.