Rajasthan Royals enters IPL finals with a bang …

The semi finals are supposed to be very thrilling. But today’s IPL semi final was not. It was completely a one sided match. In 1st semi final today, league topper Rajasthan Royals comfortably defeated  Delhi Daredevils by huge 105 runs and cruised to finals of IPL T20 tournament.

Delhi dare devils won the toss and elected to field. The Fantastic four  of Rajasthan Royals, Shane Watson ( 52 of 29), Yusuf Patan ( 45 of 21 Balls), Asnodker ( 39 of 21 balls)  and Gream Smith ( 25 of 21 balls), again proved that they are better than any other side and helped Royals to reach 192 runs in 20 overs.

In response to this, Delhi dare devils started very badly loosing  4 important wickets ( Sehwag,Gambhir, Dhawan & Tiwary) for just 28 runs in first 6.2 overs. The star of IPL, Shane Watson again did the trick by picking 3 of these wickets. The Delhi dare devils were not able to recover from these early blows and finally bundled out for 87 runs and thus loosing by 105 runs. For match details click here

It was very fascinating to see Shane warne cheering up his team mates at every stage of the game and especially when they were fielding. He was constantly motivating, energising and encouraging his team mates in general and bowlers in particular. His leadership effect was clearly visible in Rajasthan team members as they did every thing to restrict Delhi Dare devils to 87 runs

One more interesting aspect of the game is superb play by fantastic four of Rajasthan Royals. While Gream smith and Asnodker provided solid foundation, shane watson and yusuf pathan fired and build the innings. We have seen this many times in Rajasthan Royals. Even if one fails, other will normally make it up and I am sure we expect this to continue in finals.

One thing is almost certain. Whoever meets Rajasthan Royals in finals has to do their home work correctly to counter Shane Warne’s captaincy and batting of fantastic four. It is not a a easy job, but you never know what will happen in 20-20

Critically yours

Kiran

Rajasthan Royals defeats Chennai Super Kings … Continue their run

In a trilling math today, Rajasthan Royals defeated Chennai Super Kings by 10 Runs. Match Went up to the last over, but final over by Sohail Tanvir clinched the victory for Rajasthan with Sahail Tanvir taking two wickets and conceding just 4 runs, when 15 runs were required of last over. Cilick Here for details

Earlier Rajasthan Royals played aggressively and scored 211/4 in 20 overs. Gream Smith scored 91 of 51 balls and ever reliable Asnodker scored 41 runs of 27 balls. Kamran Akmal scored quickfire 50 of just 28 balls to finish the Innings. Shane Watson was rested for today’s match.

In response, Chennai Super Kings started very well with some superb Batting by A . Morkel ( 71 of 40 balls), Suresh Raina ( 45 of 24 Balls) & Partiv Patel ( 54 of 40 Balls) and took the match up to last over. But brilliant last over by Sohail Tanvir tilted the match in Rajasthan Royal’s Side.

Chennai Super Kings lost one good opportunity to go to Semi Final and need to win the next match to qualify for semi final. Rajasthan Royals are now all set to win the IPL tournament and are unstoppable. All credit goes to this young team and its able captain Shane Warne. This team is a classic example of  how a team with average players and great captain can do if team is jelled properly. My only hope is that they continue their thirst for victories and do not blunder in Semi final or Final.

Critically yours

Kiran

Who can stop Rajasthan Royals ……? ?

One more match … One more victory. Today again Rajasthan Royals proved they are not darkhorses for IPL cup but are favourites. They played splendidly and defeated Kolkata knightriders by 45 runs. Rajasthan Royals seem to be unstoppable. Sitting pretty in second position in score table, they are ought to show more.

The teams young breed never disappoints their captain. Today young lads Swapnil Asnodkar and Ravindra Jadeja played brilliant knocks along with Yousuf pathan to build a very good total of 196 runs in 20 overs. Then they struck back to restrict Kolkata Knightriders and limit them at 151 runs. For match report click here.

How they are able to to do it ? Answer is probably this . They are a young side lead by experienced thinking captain Shane Warne, ready to do go all out to achieve their goal without any hype or fanfare. They just concentrate only on cricket,cricket and cricket. It is very easy for Shane Warne to handle a team with many young players and very few experienced players as he can mould the team in his way to a success.

I have become a fan of this team now and could not resist admiring this Team and its Captain.

Critically Yours

Kiran

Rajasthan Royals …Did it again

Rajasthan Royals going great guns. Today in thier 4th match they defeated Bangalore Royal Challengers by 7 wickets to register their 3rd consecutive victory. They are now second in the score table after Chennai Super Kings and seems to be favourite to win the Cup.

Rajasthan Royals now fully composed team and got their rhythm of winning. Under  Shane warne’s Captaincy and Gream Smith leading the Batting they are now unstoppable.

Bangalore royal challengers,mostly consisting of test team players are very inconsistant. They have to put their act toghether to survive in the tournament.

Critically yours

Kiran

Shane Warne leads Rajsthan Royals from underdogs to Favourites..

In one of the most trilling matches, where fortunes swinged between the two teams till the last over, Shane Warne proved his worth. He snatched the victory in last over by hitting 4,6,6 in 3 bals to register 3 wickets win for his team Rajasthan Royals against fancied Deccan Chargers.

The way in which Shane Warne has lead his team is incredible. He came to bat at difficult time, didn’t loose his patience and turned the match towards Rajasthan Royals. His captaincy is well appreciable and with back to back victory, Rajasthan royals,who were once termed as underdogs due to lack of star power, are now serious contender for the DLF cup. They have now Aouth African Gream Smith who proved his presence today by scoring 71 runs. Also Yousuf Pathan & Kaif regaining their forms, Shane Warne will have a very capable team.

I am very sad for Deccan charger. Today they played well but could not win. Andrew Symonds showed his worth by scoring 116 runs off 53 balls. It is very disappointing to see Deccan chargers loosing three consecutive matches in spite of having so many talented players. They need some dashing captain now in place of VVS Lakshman, who seems to be withdrawn. Let’s hope they will break this loosing habit and win their next match

Critically yours

Kiran