THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
JAIPUR, India — Pune Warriors and Rajasthan Royals recorded their second successive victories in the IPL on Sunday.
The Warriors defeated Kings XI Punjab by 22 runs in front of about 40,000 boistrous home fans at the newly built Subrata Roy Sahara Stadium, following on from their win over the star-studded Mumbai Indians.
West Indian batsman Marlon Samuels hit a brisk 46 in the Warriors’ total of 166-6 against the Adam Gilchrist-led Punjab, which managed 144-8 in reply.
At Jaipur, Australian batsman Brad Hodge smashed 44 off 29 balls as Royals posted 164-5 before fast bowler Amit Singh grabbed two early wickets in as many balls in a comfortable 22-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders.
Royals beat Kings XI Punjab in the first Indian Premier League match.
Samuels and Robin Uthappa (40) laid a solid platform by putting on 81 runs off 61 balls after captain Sourav Ganguly (20) and Jesse Ryder (8) both fell early.
Kings XI paid a heavy price when medium-fast bowler Harpeet Singh was pulled out of the attack for bowling two successive beamers at Manish Pandey in the 19th over.
Left-arm spinner Bipul Sharma had to complete the over, conceding 19 runs as Steven Smith hit three sixes to propel the Warriors’ total.
Kings XI was never in the hunt as Paul Valthaty and Gilchrist were cheaply run out. Sharma’s late charge gave him an unbeaten 35 off 18 balls but it never threatened the Warriors, which finished at the bottom of the table in the IPL last year.
Hodge was the biggest contributor to the Royals’ competitive total with Ashok Maneria adding an invaluable 40.
Manoj Tiwary fought a lone battle and scored 59 off 49 balls before he was the last man to go as the Knight Riders were dismissed for 142 in 20 overs.
Knight Riders were forced to play a catch-up game after Singh removed Jacques Kallis and captain Gautum Gambhir off successive deliveries and leftarm spinner Ankeet Chavan made it 8-3 by having Brendon McCullum plumb leg before wicket.
Knight Riders lost the second game in a row after Delhi Dare Devils won their rain-shortened match.
Hodge and Maneria rebuilt the Royals’ innings at a good pace after both openers — captain Rahul Dravid (26) and Ajinkya Rahane (0) — were run out.
Yousuf Pathan was hammered for 28 runs in two overs with Hodge twice lifting the offspinner for big sixes in one over as the pair added 64 runs for the fourth wicket off 45 balls.
Royals’ West Indian signing Kevon Cooper, who took four wickets in his IPL debut match against Kings XI, chipped in with three wickets that included Brett Lee (25) and Sunil Narine off consecutive deliveries.
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Scores:
Rajasthan Royals 164-5 in 20 overs (Brad Hodge 44, Ashok Maneria 40; Brett Lee 2-29) def. Kolkata Knight Riders 142 in 20 overs (Manoj Tiwary 59, Brett Lee 25; Kevon Cooper 3-28, Ankeet Chavan 2-23, Siddharth Trivedi 2-25, Amit Singh 2-30).
Pune Warriors 166-6 in 20 overs (Marlon Samuels 46, Robin Uthappa 40, Steven Smith 25; Harmeet Singh 3-24) def. Kings XI Punjab 144-8 in 20 overs (Bipul Sharma 35, Mandeep Singh 24, Abhishek Nayar 24; Rahul Sharma 2-34).