The game is over for Rajasthan Royals as they could not defend not only the title but also their meager total of 101/9 in their last league match against Kolkata Knight Riders. They were almost in the game removing 6 wickets by half way down in the 2nd innings. But a determined L Shukla and Agarkar joined together to offer Kolkata a solace win at the end and that also scripted Rajasthan’s fate in IPL 2009. It was already a lost battle with Warne’s boys getting crushed by Kolkata bowlers and it looked impossible for them at a time to get on to three figures. The champions had a miserable outing in their opening match of IPL 2009 also and this time it cost them the tournament.
It was none other than N Ojha who had given a dream start for Rajasthan snatching 22 runs off the first over, who figured in both the best and worse frame of Royals. His lightening speed and class keeping behind the stumps caused Hussey his life as he was stumped before he could even blink his eyes and the same chap also caused Rajasthan the tournament by dropping L Shukla off Warne on 6 and further missing out two run out chances in the death overs.
With Munaf and Amit Singh tightening it out, Kolkata found it difficult to hang on as they slid to 38 for 5 at break. They lost Sheikh immediately after the play resumed out of confusion between the batsmen resulting in a run out. Earlier Royals could get the mercury levels high with Warne’s cunning field placements and a supplementing bowling by his boys. But once getting survived L Shukla made it till the end and he kept his cool as he knew the asking run rate was not so big and he selected to go all out in the 13th over by Warne which went for plenty with the ball going out of the park too once. He featured in a 57 run partnership with Agarkar with a personal score of 48 off 46. The effort meant invaluable for Kolkata as it came when the pressure was mounting on the chasing team. Only Shukla and Agarkar could find the two digit in their side and at the end Kolkata ended their season putting the last nail on the coffin for the defending champions even though they could not hold on to the ground in
IPL 2009.
Being sent to bat first, Rajasthan got on top with Ojha scoring 22 out of the first over by Hodge. But they were toppled to 28/3 and then to 62/7 thanks to Langeveldt who could lastly find a place in the Kolkata squad and McCullum would have felt the heat for keeping him away in the tournament after he handed him a win in the last game with a bowling figure of 3 for 15. The turning point of Rajasthan’s innings was Yusuf Pathan’s run out in the 11th over without which the target would have been much challenging for Kolkata. R Jadeja called Yusuf for a single and at the last moment changed his mind to see the dangerous batsman stranded at the other end.
If it was Kolkata’s fabulous bowling and superb fielding that made Royals meander at 62/5 at half-way – mark, then it was the misunderstanding between the batsmen that dig the grave for them in the second half with a total of three run outs in their innings losing Asnodkar, Yusuf and Henderson. At the end they could score only 79 runs from 19 overs losing 9 wickets even after fetching 22 off the first. The loss concluded Rajasthan’s IPL Season 2 with them placed at the sixth position and the win does not make much difference to Kolkata’s last position in team standings.
