Rajasthan Royals v Delhi Daredevils, 1st semi-final, IPL
Watson and Yusuf boost Rajasthan to 192
May 30, 2008 20 overs Rajasthan Royals 192 for 9 (Watson 52, Yusuf 45, Maharoof 3-34) v Delhi Daredevils
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
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A string of sizzling cameos propelled the Rajasthan Royals to a commanding 192 for 9 after they were sent in on a humid evening at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. A scratchy start could have disturbed a few other teams but Shane Watson and Yusuf Pathan blasted their way out of trouble with a brand of strokeplay that was both unconventional and electrifying.
Swapnil Asnodkar's bravado helped them overcome a sluggish start and even Farveez Maharoof's triple-strike wasn't enough to apply the brakes. Watson picked off 21 off Yo Mahesh in the 11th over before Yusuf took Glenn McGrath for 16 in the 19th. Mohammad Asif's tight final over, where only four were scored for the fall of two wickets, kept them below 200 but Rajasthan will believe they possess the bowling ammunition to defend the target.
With Rajasthan's experiment to send in Sohail Tanvir at No. 3 misfired - 65 for no loss changing to 76 for 3 in a span of 2.1 overs - but Watson didn't waste any time settling down. With the high, straight back-lift that's been the feature of his batting in the tournament he swung through midwicket and square leg. A bat change in the 11th over appeared to spur him on - two massive sixes came off the new willow immediately after the swap.
If that was dazzling, Yusuf showed there was more fireworks in store. With four crisp sixes he celebrated his call-up to the Indian one-day squad with a 21-ball 45. Without the Watson back-lift, without too much initial movement, he showed what brute force could do, blasting over long-on and midwicket. He spotted slower balls too, smearing Mcgrath over midwicket for the shot of the evening.
Delhi did their bit on the field - Shikhar Dhawan and Virender Sehwag pulling off acrobatic catches before Tillakaratne Dilshan fired in a dart-accurate throw - but they will probably feel they conceded 15 runs too many. They will also look back and feel they didn't capitalise on the early juice in the pitch, allowing the openers to break away too easily.
Graeme Smith was in trouble in the second over, first with a run-out chance and next with his hamstring, an injury that forced him to miss the previous two games. A runner eased his pain a bit but he initially struggled with his timing, managing just 7 in the first 14 balls he faced. That was when he took a cue from his partner, decided to spoil the bowler's rhythm with some unorthodox shimmies and reeled off three successive fours off McGrath, the last of which was a powerful drill past mid-off.
By then the pocket-sized Asnodkar was already messing with the bowler's plans. He was lucky on 2, when a meaty edge fell just short of Sehwag at second slip, but that was never going to stop him from swinging.
Two lofted square drives off Asif provided a glimpse of his Kaluwitharana-esque audacity but it was the first over from Yo Mahesh where he truly exploded. A ferocious pull thudded through Maharoof's hands to injure his face (before trickling away for four), another broke a window pane at fine leg and the final slash screamed over the slips for four. The lights were in full force but that was the point where the innings was really infused with electricity.
Rajasthan Royals 1 Graeme Smith, 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Yusuf Pathan, 4 Shane Watson, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Mahesh Rawat (wk), 8 Shane Warne (capt), 9 Sohail Tanvir, 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel.
Delhi Daredevils 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag (capt), 3 Shikhar Dhawan, 4 Manoj Tiwary, 5 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Farveez Maharoof, 8 Yo Mahesh, 9 Amit Mishra, 10 Mohammad Asif 11 Glenn McGrath.
| Twenty20 match |  | Indian Premier League - 1st Semi-Final Delhi Daredevils v Rajasthan Royals | | 2007/08 season |
| Played at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on 30 May 2008 - day/night (20-over match) Result Rajasthan Royals won by 105 runs |
| | | | | | | | | |
| Rajasthan Royals innings (20 overs maximum) | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |||
| GC Smith | c Dhawan b Maharoof | 25 | 21 | 5 | 0 | 119.04 | |||
| SA Asnodkar | c Tiwary b Maharoof | 39 | 21 | 6 | 1 | 185.71 | |||
| Sohail Tanvir | c  Karthik b Maharoof | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 | |||
| SR Watson | st Karthik b Mishra | 52 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 179.31 | |||
| M Kaif | b Mishra | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 109.09 | |||
| YK Pathan | run out (Dilshan/Karthik) | 45 | 21 | 3 | 4 | 214.28 | |||
| RA Jadeja | c Maharoof b Mahesh | 7 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 140.00 | |||
 | SK Warne | c Sehwag b Mahesh | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| M Rawat | c & b Mohammad Asif | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | ||
| MM Patel | not out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | |||
| SK Trivedi | not out | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | |||
| Extras | (lb 1, w 3) | 4 | |||||||
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| Total | (9 wickets; 20 overs) | 192 | (9.60 runs per over) | ||||||
| | | | | | | |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
| GD McGrath | 4 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 9.50 | (1w) | |
| Mohammad Asif | 4 | 0 | 32 | 1 | 8.00 | ||
| VY Mahesh | 4 | 0 | 50 | 2 | 12.50 | (1w) | |
| MF Maharoof | 4 | 0 | 34 | 3 | 8.50 | ||
| A Mishra | 4 | 0 | 37 | 2 | 9.25 | (1w) |
| | | | | | | | | |
| Delhi Daredevils innings (target: 193 runs from 20 overs) | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |||
| G Gambhir | c sub (T Kohli) b Watson | 11 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 73.33 | |||
| V Sehwag | c Sohail Tanvir b Watson | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 75.00 | ||
| S Dhawan | c Jadeja b Watson | 5 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 41.66 | |||
| MK Tiwary | c Asnodkar b Patel | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | |||
| TM Dilshan | c Sohail Tanvir b Warne | 33 | 22 | 5 | 1 | 150.00 | |||
| KD Karthik | c Kaif b Trivedi | 10 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 83.33 | ||
| MF Maharoof | c Pathan b Warne | 6 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 | |||
| A Mishra | b Patel | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 40.00 | |||
| VY Mahesh | c Rawat b Patel | 3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 30.00 | |||
| Mohammad Asif | run out (Pathan/Rawat) | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 | |||
| GD McGrath | not out | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 133.33 | |||
| Extras | (lb 3, w 4) | 7 | |||||||
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| Total | (all out; 16.2 overs) | 87 | (5.32 runs per over) | ||||||
| | | | | | | |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
| Sohail Tanvir | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 8.00 | (2w) | |
| SR Watson | 3 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 3.33 | (1w) | |
| MM Patel | 4 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 4.25 | ||
| SK Trivedi | 3 | 0 | 20 | 1 | 6.66 | ||
| SK Warne | 4 | 0 | 21 | 2 | 5.25 | ||
| RA Jadeja | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
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Toss Delhi Daredevils, who chose to field first
Series Rajasthan Royals advanced
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