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| RR vs KKR |
Watson, who set the world record of hitting the most sixes (15) in an ODI innings, played a cameo (22 off 13 balls) with the help of two huge sixes.
Yusuf Pathan removed Dravid and Menaria in the same over as Knight Riders' fought back against Rajasthan Royals in the IPL match at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Pathan double strikes reduced Rajasthan to 79/3 in 11.5 overs.
Rahul Dravid and Ashok Menaria shared 52 runs stand for the second wicket to power Royals' innings after losing Amit Paunikar early in the 5th over.
Shakib Al Hasan struck in his first over to scalp Amit Paunikar and give Kolkata Knight Riders first wicket against the host.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to field against the inaugural IPL champions.
Brett Lee and Shakib Al Hasan have joined the KKR in the XI as Ryan ten Doeschate misses out, while Shane Watson returns for Rajasthan.
On a roll with consecutive wins under its belt, a confident Rajasthan Royals would be bolstered by the return of in-form Australian all-rounder Shane Watson when they take on an unpredictable Kolkata Knight Riders.
Under wily Shane Warne, the Royals have started their IPL 4 campaign in great style, comfortably defeating Deccan Chargers and Delhi Dare Daredevils by eight and four wickets respectively in their first two games.
And Watson, who was in destructive form against Bangladesh in the just-concluded three-match ODI series, will further strengthen Rajasthan's batting as well as bowling departments.
Watson scored a mammoth 294 runs against Bangladesh, which included a whirlwind 185 not out in the second ODI including a world record of 15 sixes.
Rajasthan's batting has been the cornerstone of their victories in the opening two matches with South African Johan Botha playing the lead role with unbeaten knocks of 67 and 39.
Warne is spoilt for choice as far as his foreign quota is concerned. Apart from himself, he has Tait, Watson, Johan Botha and Ross Taylor to choose from.
Rajasthan's bowling attack also looked impressive in the tournament so far with the likes of Amit Singh, Siddharth Trivedi and Tait all returning among wickets.
The Knight Riders, on the other hand, have so far had a mixed bag tournament with one win (by nine runs against Deccan Chargers) and a loss (by two runs against Chennai Super Kings).
But consistency is something what the Knight Riders would be eyeing to achieve as they take on Rajasthan.
On the batting front, Manvinder Bisla and in-form Jacques Kallis, who scored back-to-back half centuries, have been solid up the order but the middle and lower half barring Manoj Tiwary hasn't really been impressive.
However, the KKR batsmen made up for the Chennai mess with a strong performance against Deccan Chargers.
With big names like, skipper Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan, Tiwary, Eoin Morgan, Kallis up their ranks, the Knight Riders boast of a formidable batting line-up.
But what the KKR would be looking for is the right balance in their bowling attack, which looks like lacking a bit of sting.
However, young left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah has been a revelation with the new ball, picking up four wickets so far giving away just six runs per over.
Teams:
Kolkata Knight Riders : Jacques Kallis, Manvinder Bisla+, Gautam Gambhir*, Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Iqbal Abdulla, Rajat Bhatia, Brett Lee, Lakshimipathy Balaji.
Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson, Rahul Dravid, Johan Botha, Ashok Menaria, Ross Taylor, Amit Paunikar+, Abhishek Raut, Shane Warne*, Amit Singh, Siddharth Trivedi, Nayan Doshi.
Umpires: Aleem Dar and SS Hazare
TV umpire: RB Tiffin
Match referee: AJ Pycroft
Reserve umpire: R Subramanian
