Rajasthan win last-ball thriller, conquer IPL

SHANE SHINES: Shane Warne lead Rajasthan Royals to a thrilling three wicket victory.

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Television, for politicians with a vision

Featured Slideshows

Related Headlines

powered by

• Betting royale: Bookies hope to hit an IPL jackpot
• Rajasthan Royals gear up for the first IPL match
• Dravid, Kumble land in Jaipur with families for IPL match

Keywords: Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Superkings

Mumbai: Attacking all-rounder Yusuf Pathan scripted a memorable last-ball victory for Jaipur against Chennai in a thrilling final of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that more than made up for the two lop-sided semi-finals.

Pathan grabbed three crucial wickets and then produced a belligerent half-century as Jaipur chased a challenging target of 164 to lift the trophy in the first edition of the championship, which brought several of the world’s top players together in a double-league format played among eight city teams.

The Jaipur team, by far the most consistent in the championship with 11 wins in 14 league matches, were deserving winners under Aussie great Shane Warne. Having thrashed Delhi on way to the final, they were on a roll with all-rounders Pathan and Shane Watson proving their match-winning capability time and again.

The two were once again in the thick of things and looked set to take the match away from Chennai with a useful partnership before some quick wickets set them back.

Pathan struck his fourth fifty of the tournament, his racy 56 off 39 balls studded with three fours and four sixes. Jaipur eventually won by three wickets, Warne seeing the team through in the company of Sohail Tanvir after they needed 18 off the last two overs and then eight off the last over bowled by Lakshmipathy Balaji. A wide ball followed by a fumble from wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel helped Jaipur breath easy in the final over and Tanvir drove through the leg side to get the one run needed off the last ball.

Jaipur did not have a good start chasing a challenging target as they fell to 42-3. But Pathan’s 65-run stand for the fourth wicket with in-form batsman Watson, who struck 28 off 19 balls with three fours, put them back on track.

Pathan continued to torment the bowling even after Watson’s departure, once carting Muttiah Muralitharan for two consecutive sixes. Pathan was lucky to be let off twice, Suresh Raina dropping a skier off Muttiah Muralitharan when he was on 13, and then MS Gony failing to latch on to a return catch on 33. Pathan was also lucky to escape in a mix-up with Warne a little later.

A flurry of wickets just when Jaipur seemed to have the match in their grasp, made the proceedings interesting. Pathan was run out to a direct throw from Raina as Jaipur fell to 143-7 after cruising along at 107-3.