Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Warne praised his team’s spirit after the defending Indian Premier League champions edged closer to the semi-finals on Thursday with a two-run win over Mumbai Indians.
Munaf Patel bowled a tight last over under pressure when Mumbai needed just four runs to achieve their 146-run target, but the Indian seamer conceded just one.
It was Mumbai who folded as three wickets fell in that last over, including two run-outs.
PHOTO: AP
“All credit to the guys who showed great character. It just showed the spirit in our group,” said Warne, who was named man of the match.
Mumbai skipper Tendulkar hit a solid 40 and Abhishek Nayar an 18-ball 35 to raise his team’s hopes of victory following a triple-strike by Warne, but Rajasthan hit back in the closing over.
Mumbai’s hopes rested on Tendulkar and Sanath Jayasuriya (16), specialist openers batting in the middle order, after three wickets had fallen for 23, but Warne removed both at the right time.
Delhi lead the eight-team tournament with 16 points from 10 matches.
Rob Quiney and Indian middle-order batsman Ravinder Jadeja earlier boosted Rajasthan with a 61-run stand for the third wicket.
Quiney top-scored with a 40-ball 51 for his maiden half-century of the tournament, while Jadeja scored 42 off 32 balls.
Earlier, Ross Taylor hit a crucial 46 to steer Bangalore Royal Challengers to an exciting two-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings.
The New Zealander added 56 for the fourth wicket with Virat Kohli (38) as Bangalore achieved a 130-run target with two balls to spare to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals.
Taylor fell in the final over after hitting one six in his sensible 50-ball knock. Vinay Kumar completed the victory when he smashed Jacob Oram for a four.
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