But their enigmatic skipper Shane Warne believes it’s not a fairytale run like the inaugural year, but a lot of hard work behind every win this season.

“2008 was a fairytale. This is about hard work. The way we have come back in the tournament shows a lot of character and team spirit in the players. I am very happy with them,” Warne said. “We have a great squad and credit to the support staff and the boys for putting in all the hard work; I thought it was a fantastic game of cricket. We are fortunate to have the crowd behind us; it’s coming out well for us.”

Warne said the Royals cannot afford to relax and they will have to maintain the momentum. “This competition is all about momentum. We are right back in the mix, but we have to be there. In this format anybody can beat anyone,” said Warne.

Warne was all praise for opener Naman Ojha and fast bowler Shaun Tait for their performance against Super Kings. “Shaun Tait was fantastic. One of the key components in our game is Ojha and I am really happy for Ojha. He played beautifully. Michael Lumb and Ojha gave us a great platform,” added the Rajasthan skipper.

The Chennai Super Kings, on the other hand, lost their fourth match in a row as they managed to score only 160 for 6 chasing a target of 178. The Super Kings were well on course in their chase after Murali Vijay got them off to a flying start with a 28-ball 42. MS Dhoni (21) then continued the good work in the middle-order but two crucial run-outs dented the Super Kings chase.

First, Yusuf Pathan’s direct hit ended Vijay’s stay at the crease and later, Dhoni collided with S Badrinath for the second time this tournament as the Chennai skipper lost his bat and was comfortably short of his crease while attempting the second run.

Albie Morkel came in and smashed three consecutive sixes off Shane Warne in the 18th over to bring the equation down to 27 off 12 balls. But Shaun Tait did not allow any miracles to happen for Chennai by getting rid of Badrinath (25) and Morkel (28) in the same over.

Earlier, Naman Ojha’s heroic knock powered the Royals to 177-8. The young opener smashed 80 off just 49 balls while Michael Lumb (30) and Adam Voges (20) chipped in with useful cameos to set the Super Kings a competitive target.

Match Summary:

Rajasthan Royals 177 for 8 (Ojha 80, Jakati 2-30, Thushara 2-28) beat Chennai Super Kings 160 for 6 (Vijay 42, Tait 2-22) by 17 runs

Man of the Match: Naman Ojha

Rajasthan Royals skipper Shane Warne won the toss and opted to bat first against the Sourav Ganguly led Kolkata Knight Riders. The Royals didn’t get off to a good start, losing opener Michael Lumb off the very first ball of the innings lbw to Ashok Dinda.

Naman Ojha and Faiz Fazal then added 42 quick runs for the second wicket before Fazal fell for a well made 31 off 23 balls. Meanwhile, Ojha continued to attack from the other end. However, he was run out in the ninth over, going for the second run but failing to beat an accurate throw from Bond from long leg. Enter the explosive Yusuf Pathan and he, once again, flattered to deceive.  Pathan drove a couple of boundaries but yet again threw away his wicket after a good start mistiming his attempted pull shot.

Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, though, resurrected the Rajasthan innings. Jhunjhunwala played a composed knock filled with late cuts, on drives and nudges into gaps, to push Rajasthan towards a competitive total. When he fell on the first ball of the 18th over, it looked like Rajasthan might not be able to reach 150 but Adam Voges launched a late assault scoring 17 runs in the final over, bowled by Ishant , to propel Rajasthan to a respectable total.

Kolkata, on the other hand, would be looking to bounce back after losing their last game to Chennai. Rajasthan is a depleted side right now after having lost the services of key players like Graeme Smith and Dmitri Mascarenhas and Kolkata would be looking to pounce on a struggling Rajasthan outfit.

Rajasthan has lost all three games so far in the tournament and they would, once again, be depending on Yusuf Pathan, who raised expectations after his blitzkrieg hundred against Mumbai in the opening game, but since then has plummeted to the rock bottom.

Kolkata, on the other hand, started the tournament on a high, winning two games on the trot. They were then handed quite a drubbing by Chennai and will seek to make that an aberration. Their bowlers were guilty of giving away far too many runs away in the last five overs to Chennai and that ultimately cost them the match and they would be looking to put up a better performance with the ball this time.

Kolkata, however, will be strengthened by the return of Chris Gayle to the ranks. His return gives Kolkata an explosive batsman in the opening slot. And if Shane Bond can also get his rhythm in early, Warne’s boys will be tested to the hilt.

Rajasthan was counting on Yusuf Pathan to repeat his pyrotechnics against Mumbai in the last game, when he scored the fastest IPL hundred in just 37 balls, but Pathan was out for a duck as Rajasthan could only manage 141 in their 20 overs. Virender Sehwag then unleashed a barrage of strokes on the Rajasthan bowlers scoring a 34-ball 75 to run away with the game.

Sehwag was at his brutal best as he launched into Dmitri Mascarenhas and Shaun Tait early. Mascarenhas did manage to give Rajasthan some hope by taking the wickets of Gautam Gambhir and Tillakaratne Dilshan off consecutive balls but Sehwag put it past the Royals in no time. Delhi took only 17.1 overs to reach their target and the victory puts them on the top of the league standings.

Earlier, put into bat, Rajasthan Royals put up a lackluster batting display, putting up just 141-6 on the board. Delhi struck early through Dirk Nannes who got rid of Swapnil Asnodkar. Naman Ojha then showed some spark, hitting four fours and a six in his short stay at the crease but Amit Mishra’s introduction got the better of him for 24.

Last match’s centurion Yusuf Pathan was promoted up the order but the move backfired for the Royals. The explosive batsman played out four dot balls before holding out in the deep, and Graeme’s Smith’s departure for 18 just put the brakes on the scoring.

ICL returnee, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala played a cautious hand along with Paras Dogra to resurrect the Rajasthan innings. Some lusty blows towards the end of the innings got Rajasthan to 141 and Jhunjhunwala to his fifty but the total was never going to be enough against one of the strongest batting line-ups in the IPL.

Rajasthan has now lost both its matches and the 2008 champions need to get their act together quickly, if they want to remain in contention for a semi-final berth.

Match Summary:

Delhi Daredevils 142 for 4 (Sehwag 75) beat Rajasthan Royals 141 for 6 (Jhunjhunwala 53*) by six wickets

Man of the Match: Virender Sehwag

Both the experienced openers, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, have been rested for the dead rubber. Tendulkar had batted all 50 overs during his unbeaten 200 in the second ODI at Gwalior while Sehwag, who did play in the match, was already suffering from a sore back after the first game in Jaipur.

The home team has also decided to leave out paceman Praveen Kumar while off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who had taken a two-match break citing personal reasons, has also been rested for one more game. Add to that, injuries to Zaheer Khan, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh, and the Indian team will be taking the field without seven players who are an automatic inclusion in their starting line-up.

The newcomers in the squad include Mumbai batsman Rohit Sharma, Tamil Nadu opener M Vijay and Karnataka fast bowler Abhimanyu Mithun. Rohit was most recently part of the squad during the tri-series in Bangladesh last month. Neither Mithun nor Vijay have yet made their one-day debut.

Squad: M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni (Capt), Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Sudeep Tyagi, S Sreesanth, R Ashwin, Amit Mishra, Abhimanyu Mithun, Ashish Nehra

Chasing 231 to win, Baroda reached the target with 7 wickets in hand and 81 balls to spare, thanks to a stupendous knock by Pathan, who scored an unbeaten 108 off just 42 balls.

The lanky all-rounder, who has been recalled to the ODI squad for the three-match series against South Africa, smashed 10 huge sixes and eight fours thereby scoring 92 of his 108 runs through boundaries.

Maharashtra skipper Harshad Khadiwale won the toss and opted to bat first. They were struggling at 143 for 7 before Ganesh Gaikwad (33) and Azhar Ansari (46) revived them with a stand of 77. Abhimanyu Chauhan was the most effective bowler for Baroda with figures of 3 for 28.

Baroda skipper Kedar Devdhar(62 off 64 balls) got the team off to a good start but Maharashtra were in for a lot more than that! Yusuf Pathan walked in at the 23^rd over with the score at 99 for 3 and he finished off the game in the 37^th over.

Maharashtra just didn’t seem to have any answer to Pathan. In fact, of the first 20 balls that he faced, he smashed six sixes to reach his half-century and the carnage didn’t stop after that. He sent four more over the ropes and hit eight fours to finish unbeaten on 108 off 42 balls.

Match Summary:

Baroda 234 for 3 in 36.3 overs (Pathan 108*, Devdhar 62) beat Maharashtra 230 all out (Ansari 46, Jadhav 43, Chauhan 3 for 28) by 7 wickets

Dhoni had injured his finger during the first test match at Ahmedabad which ended in a draw. However, Karthik has been called in just for precautionary measures, as Dhoni’s injury isn’t too serious, evident in the Indian captain’s batting and bowling in the nets on Sunday.

Dhoni will, in all likelihood, be declared fit for the match starting Tuesday in Kanpur.

Close to 1600 runs were scored in the game which included seven centuries — a record for the sub-continent — while just 21 wickets fell in the match. Dhoni said that the pitch lacked bounce and didn’t deteriorate after the third day as was expected.

“We were expecting a batting pitch but thought it would deteriorate after the third day. But it did not. It also lacked bounce. At the end it did not help any bowler – pacers or spinners,” Dhoni said after the first Test ended in a draw.

Sangakkara, however, had a completely different opinion on the same issue saying that though the match ended in a draw, the pitch was the ultimate winner in the end. “Ultimately, the winner is the wicket. It stayed true for five days. The Indians showed a lot of spunk to save the match,” the visiting captain said.

Sangakkara’s predecessor and man of the match for his brilliant 275, Mahela Jayawardene was, however, disappointed with the wicket on which he notched up his first three-figure score in India.

“I thought it would deteriorate but it did very slowly. It lacked pace and bounce. Otherwise our spinners would have got a few of Indian wickets in their second innings and would have put pressure on them. That was the disappointment,” said Jayawardene who scored 275.

Dhoni also felt that though the wicket wasn’t assisting the bowlers much, his bowlers could have been a lot more disciplined with their line and lengths. “Overall, I am happy with my bowlers but they could have been a little more disciplined in line as we spilled some. But we were never worried about batting to save the match as most of us got the starts in the first innings,” said Dhoni.

“The series will be a close one and we have to show discipline in bowling,” he added.

Sangakkara also wasn’t too disappointed with the result of the game, though he did feel that Sri Lanka could have tightened the screw a bit more when India were in trouble early in their first innings. “We cannot be too disappointed though we let off India after the first day morning session. Credit to them (India) they batted well after that,” said the Lankan captain.

“We go to Kanpur (for the second Test) with lots of positives. The way Mahela (Jayawardene), Prasanna (Jayawardene) and (Tillakaratne) Dilshan batted it was a bit disappointment that we could not win here,” he said.

He was happy that the youngsters in the team had come out with flying colours.

“Rangana Herath was told on the morning of first day that he would play and he did well. Dammika Prasad also did well. So, all the youngsters did well they put up their hands and took up their responsibilities,” he said.

Gambhir played another marathon innings, playing 110 deliveries for 40 runs on the final day while Sachin made 100 of 211 deliveries. The intentions of Indian batsmen of playing for a draw were very clear right from the beginning and they did full justice to the job given to them. In fact ,by the time the matched reached its final session, the only question left to be answered was whether Sachin would complete his 43^rd test century or not.

Sachin, during his long vigil at the crease, also crossed another milestone. He became the first cricketer to cross 30,000 international runs. VVS Laxman too, chipped in with a gritty half century (51 not out off 160 balls).

India began the final day with 8 wickets in hand and 90 overs to bat out while Sri Lanka needed to take 8 wickets to register their first test win on Indian soil. But the tourists couldn’t manage to break their 14-match streak as the Indian batsmen played with a lot of grit and determination. Resuming at 190 for 2, 144 runs behind Sri Lanka on the first innings, India ended with 412 for 4 with Tendulkar, Gambhir and Laxman scoring runs.

Two Indian batsmen were dismissed on the final day — Amit Mishra (24), who surprised everyone with his batting abilities, doing an excellent job in the unaccustomed nightwatchman’s role, and Gambhir who literally threw his wicket after notching up his seventh Test century. Mishra stuck to his task for over 45 minutes after India started the day 144 runs behind the Lankans at 190 for two. The leg-spinner was eventually dismissed by Angelo Mathews, caught brilliantly at leg gully by Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Gambhir, who had batted solidly from till then, opened up once he was joined by Tendulkar and raced to his hundred by hitting left-arm spinner Rangana Herath for two fours before he glanced Mathews to the rope. It was his first hundred against Sri Lanka.

India lost Gambhir in the sixth over of the second session. It was the Delhi left-hander’s third hundred this year in as many Tests since making his marathon match-saving 137 against New Zealand at Napier in March. Gambir, who was awarded the ICC Test Player of the Year, faced 230 balls and struck 13 fours in his marathon six and a half-hour stay.

Tendulkar was joined by Laxman and the duo ensured that there were no more hiccups adding an unbeaten 137-run fifth wicket partnership.

Both the teams now head to Kanpur for the second Test starting on November 24.

It wasn’t really an ideal advertisement for test cricket which is struggling to hold its ground in the wake of the growing popularity of twenty20 cricket. Nearly 1600 runs were scored in the match, with just 21 wickets falling over the five days of the game. Seven centuries were scored in the game which is a record in the sub-continent.

Brief Scores:

India 426 (Dravid 177, Dhoni 110, Welegedara 4-87) and 412 for 4 (Gambhir 114, Tendulkar 100*) drew with Sri Lanka 760 for 7 decl. (Jayawardene 275, Prasanna 154*, Dilshan 112)

Man of the Match: Mahela Jayawardene