I was lucky to play for India: Dravid

KOLKATA: Former skipper Rahul Dravid was modesty personified as he said that he was lucky to have possessed enough talent to play cricket for India and "couldn't have asked for more".

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"I am very lucky that I had the talent to play cricket for this country. It is the number one sport in this country, virtually a religion in this country and I feel privileged to have played for my country," Dravid said on the sidelines of a felicitation ceremony in recognition of his Padma Bhushan award.

"I couldn't have asked for anything more and on top of that to get the recognition and honour is truly a big privilege," Dravid said.

About getting the third highest civilian award, Dravid said: "It is a great honour. When you start playing you don't think about the awards. You just play because you just love it and there is no reason why you start playing this game.

"But along the way when you get awards and recognitions from the government of India, from the people of this country, it is a great privilege and honour," the Rajasthan Royals skipper added.

Dravid has led the Royals by example as they have been a consistent unit in the IPL 6 with six wins from nine games. They are currently in the third position and are in line for a playoff berth.

Dravid said it was important for him to be adaptable so as to meet the demands of T20 format.

"I think the key role is to be adaptable, to be able to do various roles, to do things that might not be in your comfort zone or you might not be used to.

"When you are a part of the team or any organisation, it's very important to ensure that you play your part well. When you play in the team, it's not only about yourself, it's also what success you can give to your team and how well the team does.

"I think at the end of the season, if the team you're part of does very well, you can take a lot of credit from that," Dravid said.

Talented batsman Ajinkya Rahane said his role model was none other than his Rajasthan skipper Dravid.

Rahane further said it's Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar who're the ones he grew up watching.

"My role model is here -- Rahul Dravid. I grew up watching Sachin Tendulkar and Dravid," Rahane said on the same programme.

The Rajasthan opener may be going through a lean patch but he said everyday was a learning experience for him.

"I always think I would like to improve my game day by day learning from each and everyone, no matter whether they are senior or junior.

"Actually there is no senior, junior in the game... I would like to learn from everyone," he added.

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Marsh slams 50 to revive Punjab chase

NEW DELHI: Chasing 187 and losing openers early, Kings XI Punjab were provided with some respite when Shaun Marsh reached his 50 in their IPL 6 match against Chennai Super Kings.

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Marsh slammed his fifty in just 34 balls with the help of 4 boundaries and 2 sixes at a time when Punjab seemed to lose all hope as quick wickets hurt their 187-run chase.

Marsh along with David Miller put up a quick-fire 70-plus run stand for the fourth wicket.

Earlier, Kings XI Punjab got off to a bad start when Mohit Sharma struck twice to dismiss openers Luke Pomersbach and Mandeep Singh.

Pomersbach (7) was first in line to be dismissed when he was bowled by Sharma, who looked to carry his good form of the tournament into this match as well.

Soon after, Sharma scalped his second victim in the form of Mandeep (15) who was caught brilliantly at extra cover by Suresh Raina.

Skipper David Hussey and Shaun Marsh then held their nerves and looked to steady the innings as they put up a precarious 37-run partnership for the third wicket.

However, Ravichandran Ashwin had other ideas in mind when he dismissed the Punjab skipper for 22 runs by having him caught at long off by Dwayne Bravo.

Earlier, Raina (100*) slammed his maiden IPL hundred to power Chennai Super Kings to 186/4 against Kings XI Punjab.

Raina slammed his century in just 53 balls and studded his innings with 7 boundaries and 6 sixes that helped revive the Chennai innings after the hosts lost opener Wriddhiman Saha early.

However, Piyush Chawla broke the 55-run stand between Raina and Michael Hussey by dismissing Hussey (35) who was stumped after some good work behind the stumps by keeper Gurkeerat Singh.

Soon after, Chennai lost skipper MS Dhoni as well when he fell short of his crease while attempting a cheeky single and was run out.

However, that brought Albie Morkel to the crease with whom Raina put up a blistering 74-run partnership for the fourth wicket that surged the Super Kings to set the massive target for the Kings XI Punjab.

Earlier, the Raina-Hussey duo revived the innings after Chennai suffered their first blow in the form of Saha, who was caught at deep square leg by Shaun Marsh off the bowling of Parvinder Awana.

Saha (18) and Hussey put up a decent 27-run partnership for the opening wicket after Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat.

While the Super Kings head into this match with an unchanged playing XI from the last match, Punjab bring in R Sathish for Manan Vohra and Luke Pomersbach in place of Azhar Mahmood.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Wriddhiman Saha, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (Capt. & wk), Subramaniam Badrinath, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Albie Morkel, Chris Morris, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohit Sharma

Kings XI Punjab: Shaun Marsh, Mandeep Singh, David Hussey (Capt.), David Miller, Luke Pomersbach, Gurkeerat Singh (wk), R Sathish, Piyush Chawla, Manpreet Gony, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Awana.

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IPL: Super Kings beat Punjab by 15 runs

NEW DELHI: Chennai Super Kings players fired in unison to pull off a thrilling 15-run victory against Kings XI Punjab in their IPL 6 match at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

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Chasing 187 and losing openers early, Kings XI Punjab were provided with some respite when Shaun Marsh reached his half-century.

Marsh slammed his fifty in just 34 balls and finished the match with 8 boundaries and 2 sixes to his credit that came at a time when Punjab seemed to lose all hope as quick wickets hurt their 187-run chase.

Marsh (73 off 51) along with David Miller (51* off 26) put up a quick-fire 95-plus run stand for the fourth wicket, which almost took the match away from the Super Kings.

However, the match turned around at the fag end when Chris Morris gave away just 3 runs of the last two balls in the penultimate over and Bravo picked up 3 wickets in the last over.

Bravo finished the match with figures of 3/34 thereby taking over the purple cap from James Faulkner.

Earlier, Kings XI Punjab got off to a bad start when Mohit Sharma struck twice to dismiss openers Luke Pomersbach and Mandeep Singh.

Pomersbach (7) was first in line to be dismissed when he was bowled by Sharma, who looked to carry his good form of the tournament into this match as well.

Soon after, Sharma scalped his second victim in the form of Mandeep (15) who was caught brilliantly at extra cover by Suresh Raina.

Skipper David Hussey and Shaun Marsh then held their nerves and looked to steady the innings as they put up a precarious 37-run partnership for the third wicket.

However, Ravichandran Ashwin had other ideas in mind when he dismissed the Punjab skipper for 22 runs by having him caught at long off by Dwayne Bravo.

Earlier, Raina (100*) slammed his maiden IPL hundred to power Chennai Super Kings to 186/4 against Kings XI Punjab.

Raina slammed his century in just 53 balls and studded his innings with 7 boundaries and 6 sixes that helped revive the Chennai innings after the hosts lost opener Wriddhiman Saha early.

However, Piyush Chawla broke the 55-run stand between Raina and Michael Hussey by dismissing Hussey (35) who was stumped after some good work behind the stumps by keeper Gurkeerat Singh.

Soon after, Chennai lost skipper MS Dhoni as well when he fell short of his crease while attempting a cheeky single and was run out.

However, that brought Albie Morkel to the crease with whom Raina put up a blistering 74-run partnership for the fourth wicket that surged the Super Kings to set the massive target for the Kings XI Punjab.

Earlier, the Raina-Hussey duo revived the innings after Chennai suffered their first blow in the form of Saha, who was caught at deep square leg by Shaun Marsh off the bowling of Parvinder Awana.

Saha (18) and Hussey put up a decent 27-run partnership for the opening wicket after Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat.

While the Super Kings head into this match with an unchanged playing XI from the last match, Punjab bring in R Sathish for Manan Vohra and Luke Pomersbach in place of Azhar Mahmood.

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Wriddhiman Saha, Michael Hussey, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (Capt. & wk), Subramaniam Badrinath, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Albie Morkel, Chris Morris, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohit Sharma

Kings XI Punjab: Shaun Marsh, Mandeep Singh, David Hussey (Capt.), David Miller, Luke Pomersbach, Gurkeerat Singh (wk), R Sathish, Piyush Chawla, Manpreet Gony, Praveen Kumar, Parvinder Awana.

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Bangalore elect to bat against Pune

NEW DELHI: Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bat against Pune Warriors India in their IPL 6 match at Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium in Pune.

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Warriors made two changes, bringing in Ajantha Mendis and Angelo Mathews in place of Luke Wright and Kane Richardson.

Pune would be desperate to make amends but they face an uphill task against the star-studded Bangalore.

It won't be an easy task for Finch's boys as they are up against a formidable Bangalore side which boasts of the big-hitting Chris Gayle.

On paper, Bangalore appear to be the overwhelming favourites with six wins in 10 games, while Pune are languishing at the bottom with just two wins in 10 matches.

Pune would be eager to forget the nightmarish experience it encountered the last time these two teams met on April 23, when Bangalore registered the highest team score of 263 and Gayle massacred the bowling to score a record 66-ball 175.

Teams (from):

Pune Warriors India: Aaron Finch (Capt.), Angelo Mathews, Abhishek Nayar, Ajanta Mendis, Ali Murtaza, Anustup Mazumdar, Ashok Dinda, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Dheeraj Jadhav, Eklavya Dwivedi, Harpreet Singh, Ishwar Pandey, Kane Richardson, Krishnakant Upadhyay, Luke Wright, Mahesh Rawat, Manish Pandey, Marlon Samuels, Mitchell Marsh, Mithun Manhas, Parveez Rasool, Rahul Sharma, R Gomez, Robin Uthappa, Ross Taylor, Shrikant Wagh, Steve Smith, T Suman, Tamim Iqbal, Udit Birla, Wayne Parnell and Yuvraj Singh.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (Capt.), AB de Villiers, Abhimanyu Mithun, Abhinav Mukund, Andrew McDonald, Arun Karthik, Cheteshwar Pujara, Chris Gayle, Christopher Barnwell, Daniel Christian, Daniel Vettori, Harshal Patel, Jaidev Unadkat, K P Appanna, Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal, Moises Henriques, Murali Kartik, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pankaj Singh, Prasanth Parameswaran, R Vinay Kumar, Ravi Rampaul, Rudra Pratap Singh, S Aravind, Sandeep Warrier, Saurabh Tiwary, Sheldon Jackson, Sunny Sohal, Syed Mohammad, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Vijay Zol, Zaheer Khan.

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Dhawan slams fifty as Hyderabad cruise

NEW DELHI: Shikhar Dhawan reached his half-century as he and Hanuma Vihari put up a swift partnership to lead the Hyderabad chase in their IPL 6 match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad.

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Dhawan reached his fifty in 40 balls with the help of 6 boundaries and a lone six and it came at a time when Hyderabad's chase of 130 suffered a dent.

Dhawan and Vihari weaved a swift 50-plus run partnership to revive the chase right after Harbhajan Singh scalped Kumar Sangakkara.

Sangakkara (21) was left bamboozled when Harbhajan caught the Sri Lankan off his own bowling and thereby broke a growing partnership between the Hyderabad skipper and Shikhar Dhawan.

Earlier, Sunrisers Hyderabad lost opener Akshath Reddy early to Mitchell Johnson.

Reddy (7) was caught at covers by Dwayne Smith off a short of length Johnson delivery thereby giving Mumbai their first breakthrough.

Earlier, a late unbeaten 50-run stand between Kieron Pollard and Ambati Rayudu helped Mumbai Indians reach 129/4 against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Pollard (14* off 19) and Rayudu (34* off 27) helped Mumbai to crawl towards their final total after the visitors were jolted by some amazing bowling display by Amit Mishra and Ishant Sharma.

Mishra, who finished his quota of over with figures of 2/24 struck to dismiss Dwayne Smith and Rohit Sharma at a time when the duo was going steady and looked to do damage.

It was after Ishant struck twice for Sunrisers Hyderabad to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Karthik that Smith and Rohit held their nerves and put up a steady 42-run partnership.

However, Mishra had other plans in mind when he scalped the duo in one over to leave the visitors reeling at 80/4 after 13 overs.

Mishra struck first to dismiss Rohit (22) when the Mumbai skipper was caught by Ishant, who made good on his dropped catch earlier in the match.

Soon after, Mishra caught Smith (38) plumb as the Mumbai batsman, who hit 3 boundaries and 2 sixes, failed in his attempt to sweep the ball.

Earlier, the Tendulkar-Smith duo put up a quick-fire 32 run stand for the opening wicket after Mumbai won the toss decided to bat against Hyderabad.

However, the party was short-lived when Ishant played wrecker-in-chief to dismiss Tendulkar (14) and Karthik (0) in one over.

While Tendulkar, who hit a couple of boundaries in his short innings, was comprehensively bowled, Karthik was caught comfortably by Karan Sharma.

Both teams head into this match with unchanged playing XIs from the previous match.

Teams:

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Akshath Reddy, Shikhar Dhawan, Kumar Sangakkara (Capt. & wk), Hanuma Vihari, Karan Sharma, Thisara Perera, Darren Sammy, Amit Mishra, Ashish Reddy, Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma.

Mumbai Indians: Dwayne Smith, Sachin Tendulkar, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rohit Sharma (Capt.), Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Lasith Malinga, Pragyan Ojha, Dhawal Kulkarni.

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Sachin will stop when he wants to: Shastri

SHIRDI (MAHARASHTRA): Former India skipper Ravi Shastri on Wednesday said that Sachin Tendulkar has much cricket left in him and a call on retirement will be entirely his prerogative.

"Often there is a discussion about Sachin's retirement but since his health and body is fit, he's playing... when he wants to stop, he will stop..," Shastri told reporters outside the Saibaba temple here.

"I think a player like Sachin will not come up at least in 100 years," he added.

Answering to a query, he said that if spin bowler Ravindra Jadeja improves his batting, he could become a genuine allrounder.

About his own record of hitting six sixes in an over in first class cricket, he said that records are often made to break but "my record in first class cricket is difficult to surpass."

Ahmednagar district judge and president of three member committee of Shirdi Sansthan Trust Jayant Kulkarni felicitated Shastri on the occasion.

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Dhawan's onslaught helps SRH beat MI

HYDERABAD: Shikhar Dhawan smashed his second half century of the season as Sunrisers Hyderabad scored an easy seven-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians in a lop-sided Pepsi Indian Premier League match on Wednesday.

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Dhawan struck nine fours and a six in his 55-ball unbeaten 73 as the home side chased down the small target of 130 with two overs to spare at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at Uppal.

The India opener, who had an impressive Test debut against Australia in March, shared 74 runs from 9.2 overs with Hanuma Vihari (25 off 23 balls) for the third wicket as the Sunrisers reached 130 for three in 18 overs. Captain Kumar Sangakkara contributed run-a-ball 21.

Dhawan had scored an unbeaten 63 in his first match of the IPL season for a lost cause against Chennai Super Kings in Sunrisers' away match on April 25.

Despite Wednesday's win, their sixth in 10 matches, the Sunrisers remained at fifth place with 12 points. Mumbai, whose three-game winning streak was snapped today, also remained at fourth place with 12 points from 10 matches.

Chasing the modest target of 130, the Sunrisers lost opener Akshath Reddy (7) in the third over with just 16 on the board.

Reddy was done in by a Mitchell Johnson slower ball as he attempted to slice it over the covers but ended up ballooning in the air for Dwayne Smith to take an easy catch at covers.

Despite the early jolt, the home side had nothing much to worry about as the asking rate was small and captain Sangakkara and Dhawan finding the boundaries.

Sangakkara hit the first four of his innings off his Sri Lankan compatriot Lasith Malinga in the fifth over and then finished off-spinner Harbhajan Singh with two consecutive boundaries in the sixth over.

Dhawan was also settling down well with a four off Pragyan Ojha and a six off Harbhajan after hitting two boundaries off Dhawal Kulkarni early on.

Just as the Sangakkara-Dhawan second wicket partnership was threatening to end the game early, Harbhajan struck by dismissing the home side captain in the eighth over.

Sangakkara was in two minds whether he should go for a shot or defend and he ended up spooning the ball back to the off-spinner who took a low catch. Sangakkara's run-a-ball 21 contained three fours.

The asking rate climbed a bit at just below seven an over but the Sunrisers were cruising along at 61 for two at the halfway stage and the home side virtually took the game away from the reach of Mumbai Indians by taking 15 runs from the 12th over bowled by Dwayne Smith.

Dhawan struck two sweetly-times fours off the West Indian while Vihari also found the gap for another boundary.

Visiting captain Rohit Sharma shuffled his bowlers in a bid to break the partnership of Dhawan and Vihari which Mumbai could do only in the 18th over with the latter falling to Kulkarni.

But by that time, it was too late for Mumbai as the Sunrisers needed just three runs to win the match.

For Mumbai, Harbhajan, Johnson and Kulkarni bagged a wicket each.

Earlier, a fine bowling performance from Sunrisers saw them restrict a star-studded Mumbai Indians side to a modest 129 for four.

Pacer Ishant Sharma (2/15) and leggie Amit Mishra (2/24) proved to be the most miserly in their four-over spells.

The others too bowled economical spells with Karan Sharma and Dale Steyn conceding just 25 and 27 runs in their quota of four overs.

Mumbai's Ambati Rayadu played a useful 34-run knock while big-hitter Kieren Pollard (14 of 19 balls) found the going tough on a slow wicket at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.

The duo shared an unbeaten 50-run stand for the fifth wicket to take their side past 120.

Mumbai got off to a steady start with openers Sachin Tendulkar and Dwayne Smith reaching 31 at the end of four overs.

Smith opened the scoring with a four off the first ball of the innings from spinner Sharma. Tendulkar showed a touch of class hitting Steyn for two consecutive boundaries.

But twin strikes in one over from Ishant jolted the Mumbai camp, as he first dismissed Tendulkar (14) and followed it up with the wicket of in-form Dinesh Karthik for nought.

The pacer went through the gap between the bat and pad of Tendulkar while Karthik was caught at point trying to play an uppish drive.

Skipper Rohit Sharma got off the mark hitting back to back boundaries. However, Hyderabad kept a check on the run flow and never allowed the Mumbai batters to flourish after electing to bat.

At the half way mark, Mumbai were 60 for two. Hyderabad's highest wicket taker in this IPL, Mishra removed both Rohit (22) and Smith (38) in the same over, after Ishant dropped a sitter from Smith off his own bowling.

Smith hit three fours and two sixes in a 40-ball knock while Rohit hit a run-a-ball 22 that included two boundaries.

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KKR elect to bat against Delhi Daredevils

RAIPUR: Kolkata Knight Riders' skipper Gautam Gambhir won the toss and elected to bat against Delhi Daredevils at the newly- built Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium in Raipur on Wednesday.

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While Delhi made no changes to their line-up, Kolkata made two major changes. Brett Lee comes in for New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum and Shami Ahmed gives his place to Sumit Narwal.

After notching up a morale-boosting victory against the Pune Warriors, Delhi Daredevils will aim to improve their current position.

Just like the previous match between the Daredevils and the Warriors, this encounter will also be a battle of survival for both the teams -- especially KKR, whose slide during this edition has been pretty sharp.

While Daredevils have lost seven out of their nine games, KKR are not too far behind having lost six games out of nine.

The Daredevils have failed to finish off some close matches this season and their effort against the Warriors was certainly laudable considering the situation they are in at the moment.

The one thing that has been ailing both the teams is the performance of their Indian players which has definitely played a big role in their poor show in the million dollar league so far.

The pressure has been immense on skipper Gautam Gambhir, and Eoin Morgan, who have easily been the two best players in their side with scores of 308 and 268 runs respectively.

Gambhir, however, has failed in the last two games and would like to make amends during Wednesday's encounter.

In all, an exciting match is on the cards as it is redemption time for KKR. Daredevils, on the other hand, would look to exact a sweet revenge for their first leg loss against the same opponents.

Teams (from):

Delhi Daredevils: Mahela Jayawardene (captain.), Virender Sehwag, David Warner, Umesh Yadav, Ashish Nehra, Irfan Pathan, Kedar Jadhav, Unmukt Chand, Morne Morkel, Shahbaz Nadeem, Ben Rohrer.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Brett Lee, Debabrata Das, Eoin Morgan, Jacques Kallis, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Manvinder Bisla, Rajat Bhatia, Sunil Narine, Yusuf Pathan, Sumit Narwal.

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Dravid falls, Rajasthan Royals two down

NEW DELHI: Sanju Samson hit a 32-ball half-century to steady Rajasthan Royals' run chase against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their IPL 6 match at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday.

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Moises Henriques clean bowled Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid off a slower delivery at the hosts lost their second wicket.

Dravid hit 4 fours in his 17-ball 22 before falling to Henriques.

Rajasthan run chase got off to a bad start as Ravi Rampaul had opener Ajinkya Rahane caught by RP Singh at fine leg.

Earlier, brisk knocks by Royal Challengers Bangalore batsmen powered them to a formidable score of 171/6.

R Vinay Kumar smashed 3 sixes in his 6-ball 22 as birthday boy James Faulkner conceded 22 runs in his last over.

Moises Henriques hit a six and 2 fours in his 19-ball before he was run out.

Shane Watson took his third wicket when he had Ravi Rampaul caught by wicket-keeper Sanju Samson.

Shane Watson took his second wicket when he had Bangalore captain Virat Kohli caught by James Faulkner at long-on.

Kohli hit 3 fours in his 35-ball 32.

S Sreesanth had AB de Villiers caught by James Faulkner in the covers as Bangalore lost their third wicket.

Bangalore lost their second wicket when Abhinav Mukund (19) edged a Siddharth Trivedi delivery onto his stumps.

Chris Gayle smashed 34 runs off 16 balls before Shane Watson had him caught behind by Sanju Samson.

Gayle hit a six and 6 fours in his fiery knock.

The breakthroughs came after Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid won the toss and chose to bowl against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Teams:

Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (Capt.), Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane, Owais Shah, Stuart Binny, Brad Hodge, Sanju Samson, James Faulkner, Ajit Chandila, Siddharth Trivedi, S Sreesanth.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (Capt.), Chris Gayle, Abhinav Mukund, AB de Villiers, Saurabh Tiwary, Moises Henriques, Ravi Rampaul, R Vinay Kumar, Murali Kartik, Rudra Pratap Singh, Jaidev Unadkat.

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Sanju Samson leads Rajasthan run chase

NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals maintained their unbeaten record at home as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 4 wickets in their IPL 6 match at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday.

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With five runs needed off 5 balls, R Vinay Kumar clean bowled Brad Hodge off a slower delivery to tilt the match in RCB's favour.

Hodge hit 2 sixes and a four in his 32-run knock that came off 18 balls.

Owais Shah was run out while completing the second run as he failed to beat Virat Kohli's throw.

But Stuart Binny hit a four off the fifth ball to seal victory for Rajasthan Royals.

Shane Watson slammed a six and 3 fours in his 31-ball 41 before RP Singh had him caught by AB de Villiers.

Sanju Samson smashed 63 runs off 41 balls before falling to Ravi Rampaul.

Samson mistimed a slower delivery from Rampaul high up in the air for Murali Kartik to take the catch in the covers.

Samson's knock was studded with 2 sixes and 7 fours.

Samson hit a 32-ball half-century to steady Rajasthan Royals' run chase against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Moises Henriques clean bowled Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid off a slower delivery at the hosts lost their second wicket.

Dravid hit 4 fours in his 17-ball 22 before falling to Henriques.

Rajasthan run chase got off to a bad start as Ravi Rampaul had opener Ajinkya Rahane caught by RP Singh at fine leg.

Earlier, brisk knocks by Royal Challengers Bangalore batsmen powered them to a formidable score of 171/6.

R Vinay Kumar smashed 3 sixes in his 6-ball 22 as birthday boy James Faulkner conceded 22 runs in his last over.

Moises Henriques hit a six and 2 fours in his 19-ball before he was run out.

Shane Watson took his third wicket when he had Ravi Rampaul caught by wicket-keeper Sanju Samson.

Shane Watson took his second wicket when he had Bangalore captain Virat Kohli caught by James Faulkner at long-on.

Kohli hit 3 fours in his 35-ball 32.

S Sreesanth had AB de Villiers caught by James Faulkner in the covers as Bangalore lost their third wicket.

Bangalore lost their second wicket when Abhinav Mukund (19) edged a Siddharth Trivedi delivery onto his stumps.

Chris Gayle smashed 34 runs off 16 balls before Shane Watson had him caught behind by Sanju Samson.

Gayle hit a six and 6 fours in his fiery knock.

The breakthroughs came after Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid won the toss and chose to bowl against Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Teams:

Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid (Capt.), Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane, Owais Shah, Stuart Binny, Brad Hodge, Sanju Samson, James Faulkner, Ajit Chandila, Siddharth Trivedi, S Sreesanth.

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (Capt.), Chris Gayle, Abhinav Mukund, AB de Villiers, Saurabh Tiwary, Moises Henriques, Ravi Rampaul, R Vinay Kumar, Murali Kartik, Rudra Pratap Singh, Jaidev Unadkat.

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