Rajasthan Royals v Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2012, Jaipur,Cricinfo

Chennai Super Kings 127 for 6 (Raina 23, Morkel 18*, Anirudha 18*) beat Rajasthan Royals 126 for 6 (Hodge 33, Hilfenhaus 2-8) by four wickets

You can't rule out Chennai Super Kings. They are no strangers to wriggling out of a difficult situation, and they did it again in Jaipur, when it seemed their playoff prospects were in peril. The teams, at a crucial juncture in the season, could ill-afford a slip-up, and Super Kings huffed and puffed in a low-scoring chase but made it thanks to a late onslaught from Albie Morkel and S Anirudha. They completely altered the flow of a game heading for a close finish and, with 13 points in the bag, Super Kings broke into the top four.

Royals were favourites when they had Super Kings at 84 for 6 in the 17th over, the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja, caught in the deep, prompting a roar of relief from a usually calm Rahul Dravid. But Super Kings were always in the game with Morkel around, and Anirudha matched him shot for shot as the Royals bowlers buckled under pressure. That surge, which produced 43 off 13 balls, left the home crowd deflated and Royals stunned by the sudden transformation it wrought.

As has often been the case this IPL, the seamers erred at the death, with attempts at bowling yorkers failing miserably to end up as length deliveries. With 41 needed off 21, Morkel launched Pankaj Singh just over the long-off boundary, a mistimed hit carrying all the way. A top-edged four and a single later, the equation was down to 30 required off three overs.

Not even the experienced Shane Watson could maintain Royals' hold. A length ball was smashed over long-on, and Anirudha, having a go himself instead of giving his senior partner the strike, pulled over the midwicket fence before steering a full toss past point for a boundary. Shaun Tait was brought back with 12 needed off 12, but another pitched up delivery was swung towards cow corner. Tait then bowled Anirudha with a perfect yorker, only to find out he'd overstepped, just marginally, before doling out five wides down the leg side to hasten the finish.

Morkel and Anirudha undid an impressive performance from the Royals bowlers for the bulk of the innings; they had given the hosts hope of defending their lowest score this season. Suresh Raina had looked threatening, finding boundaries with effortless ease but his attempt to go over extra cover failed against Pankaj. Michael Hussey and Dwayne Bravo tried to consolidate but the ball was not coming on well enough on a slow track, and the Royals bowlers, especially Siddharth Trivedi, kept the pressure on with their accuracy. Bravo holed out, Hussey was run out, MS Dhoni slashed one to point and Jadeja soon followed. That was until Morkel and Anirudha got together.

Royals' below-par score owed partly to the frustration of having their innings interrupted three times by rain, but largely to some disciplined bowling by the Super Kings seamers, especially Ben Hilfenhaus, that kept the batsmen in check. Hilfenhaus beat the bat often, getting the ball to nip away past the outside edge, and maintained a tight line in the channel outside off. His victims were Dravid and Watson, both caught while trying to accelerate during a troubling spell; Watson was brilliantly taken by R Ashwin, diving forward at third man.

While Hilfenhaus finished with figures of 2 for 8 in four overs, Yo Mahesh backed him up with the wickets of Ajinkya Rahane and Stuart Binny, out after a brief counterattack. Though Brad Hodge targeted the spinners for a couple of boundaries, and an erratic Bravo was taken for runs, the good work done at the start of the game by Super Kings' bowlers was to serve their middle order well in the end.

Pune Warriors v Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2012, Pune

Rajasthan Royals 126 for 3 (Watson 90*) beat Pune Warriors 125 for 6 (Majumdar 30, Tait 3-13) by seven wickets

Shaun Tait set it up and Shane Watson finished the job in clinical fashion. Rajasthan Royals delivered a seven-wicket drubbing to a low on morale Pune Warriors and moved to fourth in the points table. Warriors looking to reverse a five-match losing streak, struggled against restrictive Royals bowling to post 125, but lacked the firepower to cause a scare. After an impressive start to the tournament, they limped out of the race for the playoffs.

Royals conceded just five fours - the least in a completed innings this season - and were spearheaded by Tait, who took 3 for 13. Unlike Royals, who duly opened with the aggressive Watson, Warriors saved their power hitters for the middle order. Sourav Ganguly promoted himself to open after, curiously, coming in at No.7 against Kolkata Knight Riders. It was a questionable move having Ganguly and Michael Clarke right at the top, given that they aren't the quickest scorers in the line-up. What followed was a sluggish opening passage, in which the Powerplay overs had 14 dots.

Ganguly charged the seamers, made room, but failed to find the timing to match his intentions. Clarke's drives failed to find the middle of the bat, often resulting in edges and mistimed flicks. Both openers were searching for a release, but the slower balls and the wicketkeeper Dishant Yagnik standing up to the stumps thwarted them.

Warriors lost Ganguly as he miscued a pull off Tait, giving a swirling catch to square leg. Despite Warriors struggling to find the boundaries, they persisted with their conservative approach by promoting little-known Bengal batsman Anustup Majumdar ahead of more aggressive options like Angelo Mathews and Steven Smith.

Only two fours were scored in the first ten overs, the lowest this season. Save for the first over, never at any stage in that period did the rate go above six an over. Majumdar interrupted a 42-ball snoozefest when he gave Ankeet Chavan a charge and launched him for the first of two sixes over wide long-on in the 11th over, which cost 16 runs - the most expensive of the innings.

However, his cameo didn't last longer than 20 balls when he was yorked by a 98.4 kph missile from Johan Botha the following over. The last eight overs produced just 46 runs to give Warriors a total well under par.

Royals lost their star player Ajinkya Rahane for a duck courtesy a brilliant one-handed catch at point by Smith. Smith nearly pulled off a freak catch at the boundary which would have sent Watson back on 11, if the rule on outfield catches hadn't been tweaked. After going deep in his crease to pound a six off Murali Kartik, he repeated the shot four balls later. Smith cupped the ball over his head, realised the momentum was taking him over the rope and threw the ball up. He was outside the field of play and airborne when he palmed the ball back in front of the rope, deeming it a six, owing to the rule change.

Watson capitalised on that lifeline and proceeded to hammer boundaries. At the end of five overs, Royals had hit five fours and two sixes, the same number Warriors managed in 20. Watson tore into Ashish Nehra, clipping two half volleys to the leg side for fours, before pulling another loosener over fine leg for six to bring up his fifty. Watson scored a massive 71.4% of the team's total, underlining his dominance on a pitch which flummoxed 11 Warriors.

Royals coasted home with 22 balls remaining, making it one of the more one-sided encounters this season. Warriors, with eight points from 13 games, now have only pride to play for.

Kings XI Punjab v Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2012, Mohali,Cricinfo

Rajasthan Royals 177 for 6 (Dravid 46, Harris 4-34) beat Kings XI Punjab 134 for 8 (Tait 2-18, Botha 2-21, Watson 2-22) by 43 runs

Rajasthan Royals' batting fired collectively to break a run of four consecutive losses and consign Kings XI Punjab to their fourth defeat in five home games this season. Royals blazed away at the start after Rahul Dravid chose to bat on a greenish pitch, slowed down in the middle and picked up the pace at the death to post the highest total at Mohali this season.

Their bowlers kept the home batsmen under pressure from the outset, and at no stage did Kings XI threaten to chase successfully, something which had been achieved in the four previous games at Mohali.

Royals' batsmen had been guilty recently of easing off after strong starts to post inadequate scores. Just when it looked today that the flurry of boundaries upfront from Dravid and Shane Watson would dissipate into another middling total, Brad Hodge and Johan Botha cracked 27 off the last two overs to ensure Royals finished close to the 180-mark which they were aiming for.

When Dravid and Watson were pounding the Kings XI attack in their contrasting styles, Royals would have eyed 200. The duo took control after the in-form Ajinkya Rahane fell early to Ryan Harris. Dravid, enjoying the pace and bounce on the true pitch, launched an array of orthodox strokes, clipping and cover-driving Harris for three consecutive boundaries in the fourth over. Watson did it his way, powering Parvinder Awana down the ground for two fours and a six in consecutive balls in the sixth.

The stand was worth 69 off 39 deliveries by the time Watson mishit Piyush Chawla to long-off. Dravid had already started to slow down. After breezing to 27 off 16, he managed 19 off the next 23 before slicing a drive off Harris to third man.

Ashok Menaria, batting ahead of Hodge and Botha, hit Chawla for consecutive sixes, but could not capitalise on a dropped catch when on 29, to fall for 34 off 27. From 76 for 1 in the eighth over, Royals had meandered to 133 for 4 after 16.

Hodge and Botha, though, were around for a final push. Azhar Mahmood was taken for 16 in the penultimate over and Harris, despite taking two more wickets, conceded 11 in the 20th.

Faced with a stiff asking-rate right from the start, Kings XI needed Shaun Marsh and David Hussey to contribute. Watson began with a wicket-maiden, getting rid of Mandeep Singh.

Shaun Tait, playing his first game of the season, proved difficult to score off with his combination of extreme pace, late swing and rare accuracy. With the overseas bowlers difficult to get away, Hussey tried to go after Siddharth Trivedi in the eighth over but only mishit a pull for Hodge to take a fine sliding catch running in from long-on.

A thin line-up meant Marsh was Kings XI's only realistic hope left, but he departed in the next over, stepping out to Botha but just managing to york himself. The asking-rate was almost eleven by this time, and long before formalities ended, Royals had ensured they would remain afloat this season.

Rajasthan Royals v Deccan Chargers, IPL 2012, Jaipur,Cricinfo

Rajasthan Royals 197 for 5 (Hodge 48*, Mishra 3-32) beat Deccan Chargers 196 for 2 (Duminy 58*, Dhawan 52) by five wickets 

Not even eight days rest, their best efforts with the bat and Amit Mishra's three wickets were enough to earn Deccan Chargers a first win in IPL 2012. After Kumar Sangakkara and Shikhar Dhawan put on the highest first-wicket partnership of the season, and JP Duminy and Daniel Christian blasted 77 off the last five overs, Chargers piled on a hefty score for Rajasthan Royals to chase, but they were unable to defend it on a flat pitch with small boundaries.

Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane did the groundwork and Brad Hodge finished off fiercely. Almost everything Chargers did, Royals did better. Although Dravid and Rahane shared a stand of only 62, compared to Sangakkara and Dhawan's 94 , the Royals pair scored at a faster rate. They went at 10.62 runs to the over compared to Sangakkara and Dhawan's 8.81. Chargers had amassed 119 for 2 after 15 overs, Royals had the same score after 13. Duminy's 58 came at a strike rate of 223.07, Brad Hodge's 48 came at a strike rate of 228.57, and that was perhaps the difference between the two sides.

With a tall task ahead of them, Royals approached it aggressively. Rahul Dravid tore into an out-of-sorts Dale Steyn in the second over, using the pace to club him for three fours. With the in-form Rahane on the other end, Daniel Christian and birthday-boy Anand Rajan also took a pasting and Royals raced to the fastest fifty in this season's tournament, off 4.5 overs.

Dravid seemed set for a much longer stay at the crease but was foxed by a Christian slower ball that was aimed at his legs. He did not get inside the line and the ball cannoned into the pads and onto the stumps. The wicket brought a short-lived calm to the crease as Rahane and Ashok Menaria consolidated.

Unlike Chargers, who suffered a lapse in the mid-section of their innings and scored 23 runs between overs 13 and 16, Royals kept their slump to just two overs. The 8th and 9h overs yielded only eight runs in total but Rahane soon had the wheels turning again with a six over long-off after charging down the track to Mishra.

Menaria was not expected to bat at No. 3, given the match situation which needed quick runs, but Royals stuck to their original line-up and he did not let them down. He freed his arms and found the boundary and seemed a worthy partner to Rahane until he pulled straight to short midwicket. Rahane holed out two overs later to cause jitters in the Royals camp. Those nerves would have grown when Shah was dropped by Steyn at long-on when he was on 10 and then caught two balls later at deep midwicket.

Hodge did not waste time taking over and ensured the advantage was back with Royals when he clubbed Steyn for four consecutive fours. Hodge cut the short ball, turned the full toss to square leg, lofted another short one over third man and carved a half-volley through the covers to ensure Steyn had the most expensive return of the Chargers' bowlers.

With the anxiety shifting to Chargers, they dropped another catch, putting Johan Botha down and found themselves with only 11 to defend off the last over. Dishant Yagnik, little-known on the international stage, was the unlikely hero. Steyn offered him a touch of width and he found the gap on the off side and followed it up by slapping the ball through the covers to hand Royals victory.

This is the second match of in the tournament that Chargers have lost from a seemingly winnable position. Last Monday, they let Mumbai Indians canter to a five-wicket win after having them under their thumb at 95 for 4, chasing 139, in the 17th over. Chargers' three losses keeps them at the bottom of the points table.

Royal Challengers v Rajasthan Royals, IPL 2012, Bangalore,Cricinfo

Rajasthan Royals 195 for 2 (Rahane 103*, Shah 60) beat 136 Royal Challengers Bangalore (Agarwal 34, Trivedi 4 for 25) by 59 runs

The game was effectively over when the players walked off for the innings break. Ajinkya Rahane's blistering, unbeaten 103 brought up the first century of IPL 2012, propelling Rajasthan Royals to 195 against an already battered Royal Challengers Bangalore. Assisted by Owais Shah's equally intimidating 60, the Royals piled on a score way beyond reach for the hosts and such was the dominance that the chase turned out to be a tepid affair.

Rahane also smashed six consecutive fours off an over - the first in Twenty20 history, S Aravind being the unfortunate bowler. Rahane and Shah - ten years apart - didn't just deliver for the team's cause but also nudged their respective national team selectors ahead of the World Twenty20, each getting two big scores so far this IPL. Their bowlers - led bySiddharth Trivedi - backed them up, hitting their targets like efficient salesmen, getting six batsmen bowled.

Ironically, the losing side had the bigger names. With the likes of Daniel Vettori, Muttiah Muralitharan and Zaheer Khan to contend with, it appeared as if the Royals worked to the plan of exploiting the less-experienced Indian bowlers. It was an extension of Royal Challengers' affliction from the match against Chennai Super Kings, when Virat Kohli leaked 28 off the penultimate over of the game.

At one stage, Aravind conceded 48 off three overs, almost the same number given away by Zaheer, Vettori and Murali off ten combined overs. A less-than-fit Chris Gayle, recovering from a groin injury, came on in the 16th over more as an act of desperation by Vettori and didn't fare any better than the other weak links, leaking 21.

The hammering Rahane dished out was reminiscent of Brendon McCullum's butchering at the same venue in the IPL's opening game in 2008. He began by splitting the gap past cover and backward point for two fours off Aravind in the second over. The onslaught that followed was so brutal that it's easy to forget Zaheer bowled a maiden over to Rahane, the third of the innings. Rahane showed no such respect for Aravind the following over, taking 15 off it, including a massive hit over long-on.

Vettori and Murali then pulled things back with five relatively quiet overs, going for 23. Vettori's spell only widened the gap between him and the rest. He varied his pace and flight, fired in the quicker ones to keep the batsmen guessing.

Rahane's merciless approach was best illustrated in the 14th over, which produced six fours. He drove Aravind forcefully down the ground off the first two balls, scooped the third to fine leg, pulled the fourth to midwicket, drove the fifth past cover and delicately dabbed the six to third man. Aravind varied his pace and length, AB de Villiers came up to the stumps but nothing deterred Rahane.

Shah began his party with a top-edged six over long leg, before ripping into Gayle. Vinay Kumar aimed for the blockhole, but somehow Shah found a way to get under the bounce and slam sixes down the ground. He brought up his fifty off just 19 balls before launching into Murali. He tried the same against a slower Zaheer delivery but was caught at long-on.

At the other end, Rahane started the final over needing seven for his century and he required just three balls to get there. After driving Vinay past mid-off, he flat-batted the third ball just past long-on's grasp to bring up the landmark. The Royals hammered 113 off the last seven overs, the third-best in IPL history.

Royal Challengers began the chase in enterprising manner, with Mayank Agarwal pulling the first ball for six over fine leg. But a double-strike by Pankaj Singh in the fifth over derailed the chase and took the fight out of the hosts. Agarwal was caught off a top-edge and two balls later, Gayle dragged one onto his stumps.

That followed a period of prolonged struggle for Royal Challengers, stumbling against the asking rate, compounded by the steady fall of wickets. The boundary drought lasted an unforgivable 37 deliveries and that was thanks largely to Trivedi's nagging line and slower deliveries bowled from back of a length, assisted by the slow pitch. De Villiers played on to one that kept low, Kohli and Saurabh perished swinging across the line, before Vettori lost his leg stump giving the bowler the charge. Trivedi's 4 for 23 was his personal best in the IPL and the combined efforts launched the Royals to the top of the table.

Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Rajasthan Royals,IPL 2012,Cricinfo,Kolkata

Kolkata Knight Riders 137 for 5 (Kallis 31, Bisla 29) beat Rajasthan Royals 131 for 5 (Shah 31, Dravid 28, Shakib 3-17) by five wickets

Shakib Al Hasan had sat out Kolkata Knight Riders' first two matches, much to the disappointment of his fans in Bangladesh, but on a slow and turning Eden Gardens pitch he responded with a match-winning performance. He struck three crucial, timely blows with the ball, squeezing out whatever momentum Rajasthan Royals had managed to build, and then smashed a couple of boundaries to prevent a tricky chase from getting trickier in the closing stages.

It was Shakib's haul of 3 for 17 that proved decisive in the end. He dismissed the Royals openers after their partnership had started to gather pace; he came back to break another substantial stand, between Shreevats Goswami and Owais Shah, that could have hurt Knight Riders. Royals, though, somehow adapted to the slowness of the pitch, and took 15 runs off the last over to set Knight Riders a challenging target.

Jacques Kallis and Manvinder Bisla ensured Knight Riders did not lose wickets as they kept up with the modest asking-rate, and Shakib and Manoj Tiwary produced the few big strokes needed towards the end.

Royals had started well, with Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane putting on 45 in six overs. Dravid got away a few boundaries with uncharacteristic charges down the track against the medium-pacers while Rahane cover-drove and swept offspinner Sunil Narine for consecutive boundaries.

Shakib, though, had an immediate impact. Rahane tried to push Shakib's first delivery on the off side, but it turned sharply to take the outside edge to the wicketkeeper. The second ball of Shakib's second over was tossed up invitingly. Dravid went after it, and found extra cover.

In between those two dismissals Ashok Menaria, batting ahead of Brad Hodge and Owais Shah, ran himself out after a couple of let-offs.

Royals had slipped from 45 for no loss to 49 for 3 but Shah and Goswami were to double that score with safe accumulation. The duo threatened more damage after taking 16 off the 16th over, bowled by Rajat Bhatia.

Enter Shakib in the 17th over. Shah drilled him down the ground for four but Goswami mishit a sweep to midwicket. Narine bowled an excellent penultimate over, getting a clueless Shah stumped off a flicked delivery that spun away from the right-hander. Johan Botha was rendered as clueless as Shah for the rest of the over, which went for just three.

Royals managed to swing L Balaji for a couple of boundaries in the last over to give their attack just about enough to defend on a helpful pitch. Though Gautam Gambhir was run out early, Kallis and Bisla were in control as they chipped away at the target. The medium-pacers were targeted, as was left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan. Johan Botha and Brad Hogg were negotiated without needless bravado.

The highest the asking-rate was allowed to go was eight an over after the 17th. When it reached that level, Knight Riders had Shakib, who delivered. Again.