Shane Warne saluted the character of his Rajasthan Royals after they defeated Kings XI Punjab by 31 runs in Mohali last night for their second win the trot. In the battle of the cellar-placed teams, Kings XI Punjab failed to overhaul Rajasthan Royals' 183 for five, losing their last eight wickets for 45 runs after a promising start. The win allowed the Royals to climb up to fourth from their pre-match position at the bottom of the table. It was an impressive team-effort by the visitors, with contributions across the batting line-up and the bowlers pulling it back for the team after Punjab had got off to a flying start and were cruising at 107 for two in the 11th over. "I thought we showed a lot of character," said Warne. "We were up for it tonight. I thought we posted a very good score and everyone contributed. Adam Voges I thought was fantastic, Faiz [Fazal] paced himself well at the top and Michael Lumb, it was nice to see him in some form. "We are a team where everyone's just got to try and contribute. We don't rely on one or two players. I thought today, everyone did what they needed to, when they had to." Lumb provided the fireworks upfront with an entertaining 30-ball 41, Faiz Fazal (45) and Yusuf Pathan (28) built on that platform with a 51-run partnership for the third wicket off 34 balls. Voges then speeded things up towards the end with an unbeaten 45 from 24 balls, which earned him the man-of-the-match award.
"I struggled in the first couple of games," said the South African-born Lumb, who plays for Yorkshire and England Lions. "But today it was better after getting the boys off to a good start. So happy to take it home. "We've struggled early on, but we have got a couple of wins under our belt now. We are gaining some momentum now." Lumb's day, however, was almost ruined when he dropped a simple catch in the deep of Yuvraj Singh. The miss did not prove too costly though as the India star holed out to long on off the next ball he faced. Had Yuvraj stayed on for much longer, Lumb's efforts at the top would have been ruined by his slip in the field. Punjab were comfortably placed at that moment, needing 77 from the last 54 balls after a frantic start given by Kumar Sangakkara (29 from 13 balls) and Manvinder Bisla (35 from 18).
The duo's adventurous onslaught had brought the home side 76 runs from the first six overs. Yuvraj's dismissal, however, turned things around. Ravi Bopara (25) departed soon after and it was all downhill from there for the hosts. Siddharth Trivedi got the crucial wicket of Yuvraj and he was delighted to have played his part in the Royals' second win. "Yuvraj was a very important wicket for us," said Trivedi. "If Yuvraj gets going, no bowler can stop him. So I am really with the way I have contributed towards my team." arizvi@thenational.ae
Rajasthan Royals: Michael Lumb st Sangakkara b Chawla 41 Naman Ojha c Srivastava b Sreesanth 13 Faiz Fazal run out (Chawla) 45 Yusuf Pathan c Yuvraj Singh b Srivastava 28 Adam Voges not out 45 Paras Dogra run out (Chawla/Pathan) 1 Abhishek Jhunjhunwala not out 0 Extras (lb 3, w 5, nb 2) 10 Total (for five wickets in 20 overs) 183 Fall of wickets 1-35, 2-60, 3-111, 4-171, 5-179 Bowling: Irfan Pathan 4-0-45-0 Sreesanth 3-0-20-1 Shalabh Srivastava 4-0-49-1 Juan Theron 4-0-25-0 Piyush Chawla 4-0-29-1 Yuvraj Singh 1-0-12-0 Kings XI Punjab: Ravi Bopara c Trivedi b Patel 25 Kumar Sangakkara c Fazal b Tait 29 Manvinder Bisla c Lumb b Warne 35 Yuvraj Singh c Fazal b Trivedi 15 Mahela Jayawardene c Jhunjhunwala b Trivedi 23 Irfan Pathan run out (Jhunjhunwala) 1 Mohammad Kaif lbw b Pathan 8 Piyush Chawla c Tait b Pathan 8 Juan Theron c Patel b Tait 2 Sreesanth not out 0 Shalabh Srivastava b Tait 0 Extras (lb 2, w 3, nb 1) 6 Total (all out in 19.1 overs) 152 Fall of wickets 1-41, 2-85, 3-107, 4-113, 5-115, 6-126, 7-136, 8-140, 9-152 Bowling Munaf Patel 4-0-43-1 Shaun Tait 3.1-0-22-3 Shane Warne 4-0-39-1 Siddharth Trivedi 4-0-25-2 Adam Voges 2-0-12-0 Yusuf Pathan 2-0-9-2