Watson's luck and pluck ensure win for Jaipur

Jaipur: Shane Watson came up with a superb half-century to make sure that Jaipur chase down the modest target of 157 successfully and register a thrilling three-wicket victory over Delhi here during their IPL match.

Watson, who also took 2-21, scored an all-important 74 off 40 balls with the help of five boundaries and five sixes, though got life from two dropped catches but made sure that his luck got his team the required results with five balls to spare.

In fact, Graeme Smith (24) also survived dropped chances to put on a crucial 71-run partnership for the third wicket with Watson.

Jaipur, who were already leading the points table, took one more step towards booking a berth in the semifinals of the IPL tournament when their bowlers, earlier, came up with a devastating spell to keep Delhi batsman under control almost throughout the innings, after the host skipper Shane Warne put the opponents in to bat.

But some late smashing by Fervez Maharoof changed the complexion of the game and helped Delhi post a competitive total of 156-7 in their alloted 20 overs which made the game go down to the wires.

Jaipur's chase was jolted by two early run outs in the form of Yusuf Pathan and Mohammad Kaif. But Smith and Watson consolidated the innings, by adopting a cautious approach as they slowly moved towards the target bringing up just 33 runs in 7 overs.

But once the duo got settled, they started to fire all guns with Watson leading the charge. And in no time, the Aussie helped his team recover lost ground.

Smith, though soon lost his wicket when Yo Mahesh ran across from long-on to take a stunning catch just inches from the turf off the bowling of Amit Mishra. But that did not stop Watson at the other end.

Delhi, on the other hand, kept their hopes alive by taking wickets at regular intervals. Ultimately, they made it a close affair, when Jaipur needed just 7 runs off the 9 balls.

And at this point in time, Jaipur got the big scare when Watson was rightly given a run out by the third umpire in the penultimate over, although, not before another controversy marred it.

Square leg umpire - Steve Davis did not refer the decision to the third umpire but Delhi captain Sehwag insisted with the field umpires to bring in the services of the third umpire for it and the TV replays clearly showed that he was short of his ground.

But, the two new batsmen - Mahesh Rawat (5) and Niraj Patel (4) did not lose their nerve and won the match for their team.

Earlier the Jaipur bowlers crippled Delhi with fantastic bowling spells by Dimitri Mascarenhas (2-29), who made his IPL debut replacing Sohail Tanvir and Siddarth Trivedi (2-28) after being 47-1 in 6 overs.

Delhi were left struggling at 100-6 in the 16th overs with both the top and the middle-order back inside the pavilion. However, Sri Lanka's Maharoof displayed some remarkable stroke-making ability to put Delhi right back on track here on Sunday.

When the hosts were just thinking of restricting Delhi to 140, Maharoof dashed their hopes with four massive sixes off Warne to take 27 runs in the penultimate over of their innings to give some sort of a score for the bowlers to defend.

Though for the major part, Jaipur bowlers dominated. Shane Watson strike the first blow by retuning Delhi skipper Virender Sehwag and then a run-out in the very next over set the tone for Jaipur's dominance.

Meanwhile, one of the leading scorers of the tournament - Gautam Gambhir once again looked set for another blazing knock as he carried the charge but it was cut short by Siddarth Trivedi for a well-made 23-ball 31.

Thereafter, a double strike by Mascarenhas to send back AB de Villiers and Dinesh Karthik in one over left Delhi grasping for breath.

More Headlines from News

• SA's dubious quota selection policy to end

• Under-fire Prior wants to return to India

• Pujara strong contender for Test spot

• Ponting pays in Warne's absence, in dollars

• ICC President slams Boycott, wants England to go