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IPL PHOTOS: Smith, Faulkner steal Yuvraj's thunder
Yuvraj Singh's all-round show went in vain as James Faulkner and Steven Smith pulled off a sensational victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL match on Sunday.
Chasing 191 for victory, Rajasthan looked down and out after Yuvi’s 4 for 35 reduced them to 106-5, still needing 83 runs from 36 balls.
But Smith and Faulkner first attacked Mitchell Starc and managed to get 21 runs off his third over.
Ashoke Dinda was then even more expensive as he missed his lengths and was taken for 23.
Faulkner finished the game off with a massive six to spark wild celebrations.
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Richardson snaps Kohli early
After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Virat Kohli promoted himself up the order.
However, the move backfired as Kane Richardson dismissed him in the third over.
Kohli slashed at a wide one from Richardson, only to hit it to Rajat Bhatia at third man.
Chris Gayle, who has been rusty throughout the tournament, did show glimpses of his class, but couldn’t carry on and was caught by Sanju Samson off Pravin Tambe.
Young Vijay Zol did play a couple of cracking drives, but edged one to Shane Watson in the slips, off Rahul Tewatia.
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Yuvraj, De Villiers revive RCB innings
Yuvraj Singh, who too was struggling for runs in the tournament, chose the perfect moment to get himself back into form.
He took advantage of some loose bowling from spinners Tewatia and Tambe.
He smashed Tambe into the stands, to announce that he is finding his feet in the middle.
Kane Richardson was brought back with the intention of picking wickets, but it resulted in him going for two massive sixes as Yuvraj completed his half-century off just 24 balls.
Such was the onslaught that after 12 overs, not a single over went less than 10 runs.
AB de Villiers and Yuvraj added 132 runs and helped RCB post a competitive 190-5.
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Royals off to a positive start
Chasing 191 for victory, Rajasthan Royals got off to a positive start. Openers Ajinkya Rahane and Karun Nair added 54 runs for the opening wicket.
Nair was the more aggressive of the two as he smashed three boundaries off Albie Morkel.
Rahane too wasn’t far behind, ensuring that Royals managed to get one boundary at least in an over.
However, the introduction of Yuzvendra Chahal proved fruitful for RCB as he removed Rahane for 24.
Rahane went to cut a ball that turned sharply and was nicely snapped by Parthiv Patel behind the stumps.
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Yuvraj further dents Rajasthan's chase
Yuvraj, on a high after the wonderful knock, was given the ball and he did not disappoint.
He first castled Watson for one, and then induced a false stroke from Stuart Binny in the same over.
Sanju Samson played a loose shot after hitting Yuvraj for a six and boundary, but gave the simplest of catches back to the bowler.
Karun Nair did fight his way to a half-century but then threw his wicket away as he was castled by Yuvraj’s arm ball.
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Smith, Faulkner blitz stun RCB
That’s when Steven Smith and James Faulkner joined hands and took the attack to the opposition.
Smith first took on Varun Aaron, smashing him for six and a couple of boundaries.
Faulkner tore into Starc, smashing him for a six and a boundary as Royals slowly but steadily managed to get the big overs.
Ashoke Dinda’s over turned out to be the game changer as he conceded 23 runs, which brought Rajasthan within touching distance of the score.
Aaron once again helped Rajasthan’s case by bowling loose balls as Faulkner finished the game off with massive six.