Shane Watson and Stuart Binny rescued Rajasthan Royals from a precarious situation with a 93-run stand that inspired an emphatic five-wicket win over the Chennai Super Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here yesterday.
By doing so, Rajasthan denied Chennai the opportunity to seal their spot in the Indian Premier League playoffs, while boosting their own chances. They also completed the perfect home season, with eight wins out of eight.
Given the way Rajasthan started their chase of 142, a win looked unlikely. They were three down for 19, after Chennai came out all guns blazing with their pace bowlers. Jason Holder accounted for both Ajinkya Rahane and James Faulkner in the same over, before Mohit Sharma had Sanju Samson, promoted to No. 4, caught behind.
Rahul Dravid, the captain, and Watson put on a very slow 26, as they aimed to keep wickets intact. But the runs dried up and the pressure eventually cost Dravid his wicket, as he tried to cut Chris Morris but only succeeded in edging to MS Dhoni.
It was then that Binny arrived, and the complexion of the game changed. He and Watson set about getting to the target by hitting their way out of trouble. It all started with three sixes off R Ashwin, in an over that went for 23.
From there on, both Dwayne Bravo and Chris Morris were given a thorough bashing. Watson raced past 50 and finished with 70, off just 34, with a total of 12 boundaries, six of them sixes. He was dismissed right at the end, but Binny who had matched him almost blow for blow while scoring an unbeaten 41 off 23, finished things off with his third six.
Earlier, Chennai had gotten off to a good start through Mike Hussey and Murali Vijay. The two were solid on what was considered a bowlers’ pitch as they put on 83. The stand proved the bedrock of the innings.
Consecutive fours off Watson through the covers started things off. Hussey was excellent at finding the gaps, while Vijay with his timing. They raced past 50, taking 15 off a Siddharth Trivedi over.
Dravid then effected a change in the bowling that made all the difference. He tossed the ball to Binny, and he soon had Hussey’s leg stump knocked back as he missed a pull. Soon after, Kevon Cooper, returning for his second spell, dismissed the dangerous Suresh Raina, who mistimed his shot and sent it straight to long-on, before sending back Dhoni, who edged to the slips.
Vijay was run out shortly after scoring his second half-century of the tournament, and it was left to Bravo, who took 14 off a Cooper over and 11 off Faulkner, to lift the score to 141. But with Watson in such a mood, it was nowhere near enough.
Watson, Binny bail out Royals against Super Kings
