19 March,2010 08:44 AM IST | | MiD DAY Correspondent
Praveen's hat-trick helps Royal Challengers post confortable win over Rajasthan Royals
Super performance by Royal Challengers Bangalore helped them win their second consecutive match in the Indian Premier League. The Anil Kumble-led defeated Rajasthan Royals by 10 wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
Earlier in the day, Royals were bowled out for a paltry 92 runs, which included a hat-trick by Praveen Kumar.
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Praveen Kumar's hat-trick
Rajasthan's body language clearly displayed the absence of Graeme Smith and Dimitri Mascarhenhas. They looked shaky right from the beginning of the game. Hampshire's left-hand batsman Michael Lumb failed to impress on his debut.
The Bangalore bowlers focused on bowling as straight as possible and tucking the batsmen up. The first five overs produced only two fours and 27 runs.
Experienced Damien Martyn did not fit into the scheme of things for the Royals. Absence from competitive cricket began to show as he could not face the bouncers hurled at him.
Yusuf Pathan's two sixes off Vinay Kumar did revive hope for the Royals, but was short-lived. Regular short balls had Pathan swishing his bat in air, before he was run out.
Praveen then bowled his hat-trick over, the seventh in the tournament's history.
