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Lumb-Ojha get Royals off to a flier
Rajasthan Royals won the toss and decided to bat first. Openers Michael Lumb and Naman Ojha got them off to a great start.
Lumb made his intentions clear when he lofted Albie Morkel for the first six of the match in the first over itself.
Ojha joined in by hitting a boundary off Tushara in the next over.
Lumb took a special liking to Morkel's bowling and hit a six and a boundary in his next over.
But Morkel had the last laugh as he picked up Lumb in the same over. The South African bowled a slower delivery as Lumb tried to check his shot only to lob it to mid-off.
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Ojha takes attack to the opposition
MS Dhoni introduced Muralitharan to slow the scoring rate, but that didn't stop Ojha from playing his attacking game.
After a couple of boundaries in the previous over, Murali went round the stumps, but Ojha blasted it midwicket boundary for a six.
A couple of overs later, Joginder Sharma was at the receiving end, as Ojha hit a full in length ball outside off stump to the boundary. He then hit the bowler over extra-cover for another boundary as Royals kept the good run-rate going.
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Ojha completes his half-century
Ojha soon reached his third IPL half-century with a single off Jakati over long-off. He continued his attack against Murali, as he slog swept the off-spinner for yet another six.
Meanwhile, Faiz Fazal, who had joined him after the fall off Lumb's wicket, too was on his way back to the pavilion, after being caught at long-on by Murali Vijay off Jakati.
In came Yusuf Pathan, but he couldn't do much. Pathan, is in belligerent form, was sent packing by Jakati, when he edged it to short cover.
Ojha was finally out, when he lobbed a simple catch to Joginder Sharma at short fine leg for a well-made 80 off 49 balls, which included six boundaries and five huge sixes.
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Vogues provides the late flourish
However, Royals lost few wickets in the middle while trying to accelerate. Adam Vogues made a vital contribution lower down the order.
The Australian scored 20 runs off 19 balls as Royals finished with a competitive 177 for eight in 20 overs.
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Yusuf snaps Hayden cheaply
With a competitive 178 to win, Shane Warne decided to open the bowling with Yusuf Pathan. And the spinner did manage to bog down the openers.
In the fourth over, Royals struck, when Yusuf had Hayden brilliantly caught and bowled for just 19 runs.
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Murali Vijay puts Royals on the back foot
Murali Vijay, who had been quite in the tournament, showed what he is capable of when he smashed 24 runs in one over. He took a special like to Sumit Narwal's bowling and hit two sixes and three boundaries to up the tempo a bit.
He then played a late cut off Yusuf as Chennai looked to take the game away from the Royals.
But a brilliant piece of fielding from Yusuf caught Vijay short of his crease. Vijay made 42 off just 28 balls, which included four boundaries and two sixes.
Suresh Raina, who came in at the fall of Hayden's wicket, too looked dangerous for a while before Shane Warne spun his magic and castled the southpaw for just 14.
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Dhoni's run out sinks Chennai's hopes
It was important that Dhoni stayed at the crease, but that was not to be. The Chennai skipper did threaten a bit, but was run out for just 21.
Dhoni played one on the leg side, and while coming back for the second run collided with partner Badrinath, and was short of his crease.
However, Morkel had a late flourish, raising a few eyebrows. The South African hit three consecutive sixes of Warne, but that was not enough.
In the end the visitors were 17 runs short of the total.
It was Rajasthan Royals' fourth successive win -- after having started the tournament with three straight defeats.
It was also their 10th home win in 11 matches - the best record at home by any team in the IPL.
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