Rajasthan Royals has had a rollercoaster ride of a tournament. They retained the wily, aging yet still-feared leggie Shane Warne and dangerour all-rounder Shane Watson. They also wisely chose Johan Botha, Ross Taylor and Rahul Dravid at the auction, but the bowling line-up seemed rather untested except for the aforementioned spinner.
The 2008 champion won their first two games against relatively soft opponents Deccan and Delhi by eight and six wickets respectively, then lost two games against a rejuvenated Kolkata Knight Riders. Their next game against Royal Challengers Bangalore was washed out, and the teams split points. This gave RR an odd number of points, allowing them to leapfrog teams who had won as many games as them. They then travelled to Mohali and lost to Kings XI Punjab by a good 48 runs.
RR then began a home winning run that made them look scary and in contention for a last-four spot. They beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors India, all at Jaipur, and the skipper nicknamed the Sawai Mansingh Stadium 'the fortress'. The double-R's visited Chennai, the latter's own fortress where CSK had not lost at all, and RR promptly lost by a good 8 wickets. The 'return leg', five days later, was also won by Chennai, breaking the home winning streak. CSK won by a massive 63 runs, a good margin in all forms of the game. RR then hosted RCB, who were on a roll after Chris Gayle's arrival. Not surprisingly, Bangalore won by a good 9 wickets.
The Royals were in trouble. A place in the play-offs was highly unlikely. With Shane Warne announcing his retirement for the final time but then getting in trouble for getting upset about their home ground's pitch and using foul language, they would have wanted to send him off on a high, but that seemed unrealistic. RR then went to Indore to play Kochi and got bundled out for a paltry 97, only to see the 'hosts' chase it down in seven overs.
Quite a tournament these inaugural edition's champs have had so far. And I won't be surprised to see another twist.
The 2008 champion won their first two games against relatively soft opponents Deccan and Delhi by eight and six wickets respectively, then lost two games against a rejuvenated Kolkata Knight Riders. Their next game against Royal Challengers Bangalore was washed out, and the teams split points. This gave RR an odd number of points, allowing them to leapfrog teams who had won as many games as them. They then travelled to Mohali and lost to Kings XI Punjab by a good 48 runs.
RR then began a home winning run that made them look scary and in contention for a last-four spot. They beat Kochi Tuskers Kerala, Mumbai Indians and Pune Warriors India, all at Jaipur, and the skipper nicknamed the Sawai Mansingh Stadium 'the fortress'. The double-R's visited Chennai, the latter's own fortress where CSK had not lost at all, and RR promptly lost by a good 8 wickets. The 'return leg', five days later, was also won by Chennai, breaking the home winning streak. CSK won by a massive 63 runs, a good margin in all forms of the game. RR then hosted RCB, who were on a roll after Chris Gayle's arrival. Not surprisingly, Bangalore won by a good 9 wickets.
The Royals were in trouble. A place in the play-offs was highly unlikely. With Shane Warne announcing his retirement for the final time but then getting in trouble for getting upset about their home ground's pitch and using foul language, they would have wanted to send him off on a high, but that seemed unrealistic. RR then went to Indore to play Kochi and got bundled out for a paltry 97, only to see the 'hosts' chase it down in seven overs.
Quite a tournament these inaugural edition's champs have had so far. And I won't be surprised to see another twist.
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