Brilliant all rounder display by Shane Watson, the ruthless Rajasthan Royals crushed Delhi DareDevils by 105 runs in a lop-sided semi-final to storm into the final of the Indian Premier League
Shane Watson powered his way to a 29-ball 52 with three sixes and four fours in his team's challenging total of 192 for nine after Rajasthan Royals were asked to take first strike by DareDevils captain Virender Sehwag.
Shane Watson ripped out the top-order of Delhi with a triple strike to account for the top three Delhi batsmen Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Shikhar Dhawan, cheaply to reduce them to 24 for three. Delhi never recovered from the early blows and were shot out for a paltry 87 in 16.2 overs.
If Shane Watson stole the major honours of the day, teammate Yusuf Pathan also played a key role and celebrated his Team India inclusion with a whirlwind 45 in 21 balls, which included four sixes and three fours.
Shane Watson and Pathan took ample advantage of the half-century start provided by Swapnil Asnodkar (39 in 21 balls) and Graeme Smith, who made 25 in the same number of balls despite being hampered by a pulled leg muscle.
Delhi began the run-chase on a poor note when Sehwag (3) pulled a ball wide of the stumps from Watson and skied to deep mid-wicket in the second over.
Gambhir (11) and left-handed Dhawan (5) perished in close succession after enabling Delhi to make a partial recovery.
Munaf (three for 17), who was omitted from the ODI squads for Bangladesh and Pakistan, and skipper Warne (two for 21) were the other leading wicket takers for Rajasthan Royals. Shane Watson was the obvious choice for the Man-of-the-Match award.
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