James Faulkner and Deepak Hooda played crucial knocks to help Rajasthan Royals post a competitive total against Kings XI Punjab and make a winning start in this year’s Indian Premier League.
The Royals, after put into bat, were rocked early by Punjab pacers on a green-top. but Hooda and Faulkner played match-saving knocks lower down the order to lift their side to 162 in Pune.
Hooda, who was making his IPL debut, played some fearless shots to up the ante, when Punjab looked in total control. Faulkner, meanwhile, played some lethal shots in the death overs.
“Pretty happy with the way we went with the ball,” Punjab skipper George Bailey said. “We could have taken a few opportunities, but I was happy at the half-way mark. A couple of run-outs hurt.”
“We changed the batting order a bit and in hindsight that was not a good idea,” he added. “Steven Smith batted beautifully and James Faulkner batted well as well.”
Punjab never looked like chasing the target, as they lost Virender Sehwag in the very first ball of the innings. Murali Vijay, meanwhile, played some fine shots, despite losing partners from other end.
Despite Vijay’s swift batting, none of the Punjab batsmen looked like chasing the total and fell short of the required target by 26 runs and only managed to score 136 in 20 0vers.
“It was a great win to start the IPL,” Rajasthan’s Tim Southee said. “We would have been 140-150. We got more than what we wanted. We needed early wickets and go that through runouts and created pressure. There is some movement for the seamers, not much turn there.”
