The team of the Rajasthan Royals totally managed to become the first team to get a secure position in the semi-finals of the Indian Premier League. This happened when the Kolkata Knight Riders was defeated by them by a good 6 wickets when they still had 21 balls left with them. Yousuf Pathan was awarded as the man of the match for his 18-ball 48 runs which were very important for the victory.
The chase of 147 runs by the Rajasthan Royals was affected by the efforts of a couple of batsmen of the Kolkata team. The openers Salman Butt and Hafeez failed to create any magic for the team. Hafeez was dismissed on 4 runs off 8 balls. Salman Butt tried hard but could no further than 24 runs. Ganguly came in and made some 32 runs off 34 balls. Hussey was seen struggling with the ball and could manage only 11 runs. Das scored 31 runs for the team which was followed by no big plays by the lower order of the batsmen. The attack of Sohail Tanvir and Patel restricted the batsmen to a total of 147 runs.
The Rajasthan Royals worked and won today due to one partnership that went right for them. It was of Kaif and Yousuf Pathan who came at number four and six respectively. Opener Smith could manage 24 runs only. Asnodkar and Tanvir could not get any big runs on the board. Kaif however started to play with stability and Pathan joined in his aggression which was unstoppable. Their combination got the team victory. Kaif made a safe 34 runs off 31 balls. Pathan however, banged in the team with 48 runs made off 18 balls. This potential of the team batsmen has ensured till now that the team remains ahead in the competition than others.
