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Pune: Shane Watson hit an unbeaten 51-ball 90 as Rajasthan crushed Pune by 7 wickets in their IPL match at Subrata Roy Sahara stadium in Pune.
The loss was Pune's ninth in 13 matches and thus ended any theoretical chance whatsoever of making it to the knock-out stages. Royals now have 12 points and the convincing win have got them upto fourth place with a healthy net run rate of +0.265.
It was the same old story of batting failure for Ganguly and his men. The only change in the script being that Warriors skipper Sourav Ganguly opted to bat first but his team could muster only 125 for six which was certainly not enough to compete.
In reply, Watson sent the Pune bowlers on a leather hunt as his knock came off only 51 balls laced with 10 fours and four sixes. He added 56 runs with Ashok Menaria (18) for the third wicket and Royals won with 22 balls to spare.
Watson feasted on the freebies provided by Warriors' 36-year-old long-time India discard Murali Kartik as he was hit for three fours and two sixes. The Aussie all-rounder signed off with a boundary.
Opting to bat first, Pune Warriors' batting woes continued as they could manage only 125 for six in their stipulated 20 overs.
Barring IPL debutant Anustup Majumdar who scored a quickfire 30, all the other batsmen found it hard to accelerate the pace of scoring on a pitch where strokmaking seemed difficult. Even Pune's best batsman Steve Smith struggled managing only 18 off 22 balls.
The testimony to that was only five boundaries and two sixes being hit in the entire Pune innings. Shaun Tait turned out to be the most successful bowler grabbing three for 13.
Skipper Sourav Ganguly's wretched form with the bat continued as he struggled to get his timing right. With his opening partner Michael Clarke also not in his element, the Warriors failed to utilise the Powerplay overs.
Brief scores
Rajasthan Royals 126 for 3 (Watson 90*)
Pune Warriors 125 for 6 (Majumdar 30, Tait 3-13)
Result Rajasthan Royals won by seven wickets
MOM Shane Watson (Rajasthan Royals)
Points Rajasthan Royals 2, Pune Warriors 0
