Fourth consecutive victory for the Rajasthan Royals

Local lad Swapnil Asnodkar and Yusuf Pathan’s knock made all the difference.

Fine half centuries by Swapnil Asnodkar (60) and Yusuf Pathan (55) and a magnificent bowling performance by Shane Watson, Sohail Tanvir and Siddartha Trivedi helped Rajasthan Royals register an easy 45-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League at the SMS Stadium.

Casing a total of 197 set by the Royals, Kolkata lost Salman Butt (7), Agit Agarkar (20) and Brad Hodge (1) during the first six overs of their reply to slump to 51-3. A fourth-wicket stand of 68 between skipper Sourav Ganguly and David Hussey (42) put them back in contention.

Ganguly enjoyed a reprieve when the third umpire ruled that a diving Graeme Smith had failed to catch him cleanly in the deep. But Warne's (1-20) eventual dismissal of Ganguly, caught at long-on for 51, was the start of a collapse that saw the final seven wickets tumble for 32 runs.

Shane Watson (2-22), Sohail Tanvir (2-30) and Siddharth Trivedi (2-31) each finished with two wickets as the Knight Riders were bowled out for 151 in the final over.

The scores:

Rajasthan Royals: G. Smith b Ishant 2, S. Asnodkar c Hussey b Gul 60, M. Kaif c & b Agarkar 21, Yusuf Pathan b Gul 55, S. Watson lbw b Gul 0, R. Jadeja b Shukla 33, S. Warne (run out) 7, S. Tanvir (not out) 3, M. Rawat (not out) 1; Extras: (b-1, lb-6, nb-4, w-3) 14; Total: (for 7 wkts in 20 overs) 196.

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-53, 3-106,4-111,5-168,6-190, 7-192.

Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Dinda 4-0-30-0, Ishant 4-0-26-1, Agarkar 4-0-46-1, Gul 4-0-31-3, Hussey 2-0-26-0, Ganguly 1-0-14-0, Shukla 1-0-16-1.

Kolkata Knight Riders: S. Butt b Tanvir 7, S. Ganguly c Kaif b Warne 51, A. Agarkar c Rawat b Watson 20, B. Hodge (run out) 1, D. Hussey b Trivedi 42, L.R. Shukla (run out) 2, D. Das c Watson b Tanvir 11, W. Saha b Trivedi 1, U. Gul (run out) 2, Ishant (not out) 1, A. Dinda c sub b Watson 1; Extras: (b-3, lb-2, w-7) 12; Total: (in 19.1 overs) 151.

Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-44, 3-51, 4-119, 5-121, 6-143, 7-145, 8-147, 9-151. Rajasthan Royals bowling: Watson 3.1-0-22-2, Tanvir 4-0-30-2, Trivedi 4-0-31-2, Patel 4-0-29-0, Warne 2-0-20-1, Yusuf 2-0-14-0.