Powar opened the bowling and the second ball went for a six over long on. Ojha hit a four and another six to take the score to 16 in the first over.
Sreesanth was brought back to the team. He proved his fitness and was declared fit to play the match, but nothing went in favor of him. Smith did not use the first free hit and scored just one run off Sreesanth. At the end of powerplay RR were 57 for no loss, going great guns.
A new record was created in this match as every over except the 3rd over of the innings bowled by Sreesanth did not go for a boundary or six. Only that over had that luxury and rest of the 19 overs had either a boundary or a six or both.
Another record was that Rajasthan Royals put on the highest score in this edition.
During the strategic break, RR were 93 for no loss and was the favorites to reach beyond 200. Both the batsmen were timing the ball well and picking the gaps. The debutant Naman Ojha showed that he is capable of handling international bowlers.
Of the two, Smith was the first to reach 50 with a six of Powar in the 26th ball he faced. With a single from Smith in the next delivery, RR reached 100 in 10.3 overs. Ojha chased Smith and reached his fifty in the next over with a single. This is his first fifty which came in 41 balls.
Smith could have reached 100 easily but the short did not go the distance and landed in the hands of Chawla in the 15th over. Kings XI had breakthrough from Powar when the score was 135.
Yuvi would have expected that he got a chance to stop the run flow with the new batsman in the crease. But, Yusuf Pathan came in and hit a six and four and got out in the next over. He made 12 of 7 balls.
Ojha also fell in the same over for Chawla after hitting a six. He scored 68 off 51 balls with 5 fours and 5 sixes.
Sreesanth bowled a poor 19th over. He two continuous no balls to give two free hit chances to RA Jadeja. He scored 2 of the first and the second went for a six. He also hit two more fours in the over to take 23 runs from that over. Yuvi was shocked and had no words to express his problems in the field! Poor bowling from Sreesanth!
Rajasthan Royals went from 179 to 202 in one over. The first team to reach 200, and did it in 114 balls.
With Jadeja getting out in the last over, Carseldine scored a four and single. Raut finished the innings with a single and RR ended at 211 for 4.
Chasing 212 requires good start and good partnerships. Both did not happen for Yuvi lead Kings XI.
Sohal went for a first ball duck as the edge took to Warne at slip. Goel followed him in the same first over with a huge swing going to fine leg where Harwood took a good catch. End of over 1, KXI were 2 for 2.
The chance to take the third wicket was missed by Warne at slips. Katich was bowled by Trivedi for 10 as KXI slumped to 25 for 3 in 5 overs.
Sangakkara was stumped beautifully by Ojha. He came down the track, Pathan dropped it short, Sangakkar swung and missed it, Ojha did the rest.
Jayawardene hit a six of Harwood but caught by Trivedi in the next delivery. KXI were in deep trouble with 39 for 5. Nothing went right for them as Yuvaraj was watching all this. In the last 10 overs, KXI needed 159.
Yusuf Pathan was punished by his brother Irfan and Yuvaraj for few fours. Yuvi hit a six of Warne.
Irfan was trapped leg before by Warne for 19, breaking the 46-run partnership--the highest for KXI in this innings.
To ensure that the net run rate is maintained, Yuvarj played sensibly realizing the certain defeat. He wanted to reduce the gap as much as possible. He was the top scorer for KXI with 48 (37 balls, 3 fours and 3 sixes). KXI ended their innings at 133 for 8--a 78 run defeat.
Scoreboard:
Match # 30
Date: Tuesday May 5, 2009
Teams: Rajasthan Royals v. Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Warne and Yuvaraj
Toss: KXI, decided to field
Venue: Kingsmead, Durban
Result: RR won by 78 runs
Points: RR 2; KXI 0
Man of the Match: G Smith off RR
Rajasthan Royals Innings:
| Batsman | How Out | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s |
| N Ojha | c Katich b Chawla | 68 | 51 | 5 | 5 |
| G Smith | c Chawla b Powar | 77 | 44 | 12 | 1 |
| Y Pathan | c Goel b Chawla | 12 | 7 | 1 | 1 |
| RA Jadeja | c Jayawardene b I Pathan | 33 | 12 | 5 | 1 |
| Carseldine | Not Out | 16 | 9 | 2 | 0 |
| Raut | Not Out | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Extras | (nb 4) | 4 | - | - | - |
| Total | for 4 wkts in 20 overs | 211 | - | - | - |
Fall of Wickets: 1-135 (Smith, 14.5 ov), 2-153 (Pathan, 16.2 ov), 3-164 (Ojha, 16.6 ov), 4-203 (Jadeja, 19.2 ov)
| Bowler | O | M | R | W |
| Powar | 3 | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| I Pathan | 4 | 0 | 40 | 1 |
| Sreesanth | 4 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| Abdulla | 3 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| Chawla | 4 | 0 | 30 | 2 |
| Yuvaraj | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Goel | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
Kings XI Punjab Innings:
| Batsman | How Out | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s |
| Sohal | c Warne b A Singh | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sangakkara | st Ojha b Y Pathan | 11 | 15 | 2 | 0 |
| Goel | c Harwood b A Singh | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Katich | b Trivedi | 10 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
| Jayawardene | c Trivedi b Harwood | 9 | 11 | 0 | 1 |
| Yuvaraj | c Harwood b A Singh | 48 | 37 | 3 | 3 |
| I Pathan | lbw b Warne | 19 | 17 | 2 | 0 |
| Chawla | c Jadeja b Warne | 6 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| Powar | Not Out | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Sreesanth | Not Out | 4 | 8 | 1 | 0 |
| Extras | (b 1, lb 5, w 13) | 19 | - | - | - |
| Total | for 8 wkts in 20 overs | 133 | - | - | - |
Fall of Wickets: 1-0 (Sohal, 0.1 ov), 2-2 (Goel, 0.6 ov), 3-25 (Katich, 4.6 ov), 4-29 (Sangakkara, 5.6 ov), 5-39 (Jayawardene, 7.4 ov), 6-87 (Pathan, 13.3 ov), 7-104 (Chawla, 15.4 ov), 8-127 (Yuvraj Singh, 18.1 ov)
| Bowler | O | M | R | W |
| A Singh | 4 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| Harwood | 4 | 0 | 26 | 1 |
| Y Pathan | 4 | 0 | 28 | 1 |
| Trivedi | 4 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| Warne | 3 | 0 | 38 | 2 |
| RA Jadeja | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
