Tournament favourites Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians scored crucial victories in their IPL encounters last night to move ahead in the points table. Chris Gayle failed to make any impact against the Royals, while Sachin disappointed again.
In the first match, Rajasthan won the toss and elected to field first. RCB posted 171/6 in 20 overs. Gayle (34), Kohli (32), AB de Villiers (21), Henriques (22) and Vinay Kumar (22*) were the top scorers. Shane Watson took three wickets.
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Despite losing Rahane early, Rajasthan reached 173/6 in 19.5 overs and won the match by 4 wickets. Dravid (22), Sanju Samson (63*), Watson (41) and Hodge (32) were the top scorers. Rampaul took two wickets. Sanju Samson was declared ‘Man of the Match’. It was Bangalore’s 4th loss in a row.
In the second match, Kings XI Punjab tried their best, but failed to beat the Mumbai challenge. Mumbai won the toss and elected to bat first. They posted 174/3 in 20 overs. Barring Sachin, all others contributed well. Dwayne Smith (33), Dinesh Karthik (25), Rohit Sharma (79*) and Kieron Pollard (20*) were the top contributors.
Chasing a victory target of 175, KXIP bowled out for 170 in 20 overs and lost the match by 4 runs. David Hussey (34), David Miller (56) and Praveen Kumar (24) were the top scorers. Harbhajan Singh took three wickets, while Johnson, Kulkarni and Ojha took two wickets each. Rohit Sharma was declared ‘Man of the Match’.