IPL 2012: Rajasthan royals rout hapless Pune by 45 runs

Live score and updates from IPL fixture between Rajasthan royals and Pune Warriors India.

Suyash Srivastava

Jaipur: Ajinkya Rahane continued his good run in IPL 2012 as an all-round performance from Rajasthan Royals routed clueless Pune Warriors India by 45 runs. Live Score »I As it happened»I Points table » Rahul Dravid won the toss and decided to bat first. Rahane and Dravid began the innings on a watchful note and added 29 runs for the first wicket before Dravid was dismissed by Nehra. Rahane was joined by Shane Watson who was at his brutal best as he clobbered 58 runs from just 31 balls. Both of them shared 94 runs for the third wicket off just 66 balls. At one stage Rajasthan were up for big score but they managed just 14 runs off the last two overs that hampered their momentum. But it looked like a good score against Pune Warriors India who have been out of form since long time in IPL 2012. Pune got off to a disastrous start as they lost Ryder and Ganguly in the first wicket. Ajit Chandila was asked to bowl the first over and he stunned the visitors by scalping Ryder and Ganguly off consecutive balls of his first over. The youngster went on to take a hat-trick as he deceived Uthappa off the first ball of his second over and followed it with a never ending celebration. Within no time, Pune were reeling at 60/5 and in spite of some useful contribution from Steven Smith (37 from 31) and Mathews (23 from 19), they could not reach the competitive total. After deciding to rest himself in the previous match, Ganguly was back as the skipper but could not manage to change the poor run of his team as Pune lost their eight match on the trot. Meanwhile Shane Watson’s comeback to the side has been of extreme advantage for the Rajasthan Royals and the Australian once again proved his worth with his brutal knock and two wickets. Rahane was back in form for Rajasthan and they once again are looking a force to reckon with.