IPL 2: Rajasthan Royals - Practice match

Rajasthan Royals and Captain Shane Warne lost the first of the two T20 warm-up matches against the Cape Cobras by 28 runs. If there is one thing that Captian Warne would be regretting is the absence of his stars, Shane Watson and Sohail Tanvir. The Cobras fielded a new look side of what is normally a star studded side, which includes the likes of Gibbs and Morkel brothers. The cobras have been rated as the top T20 side in South Africa. Cobras won the toss and batted first. Much to Warne's likeliness the cobras lost early wickets, at one point 30 for 3. For the Royals it was kamran Khan a new addition to the 27 member Rajasthan royals squad. Kamran khan,18, rattled a few stumps with his slinging action and surprise pace.



The Cobras middle order batted sensibly and kept the scoreboard ticking before the final on-slaught to reach a score of 142 for 8 in their 20 overs. With not many experienced cricketers in the Royals side, The target proved to be a tough ask as they were bowled out for just 114 leaving cobras with a 28 run victory. Shane Warne was particularly pleased with the effort as most of them are new to South African conditions and will take time to settle down to. He hopes that addition of the international cricketers to the team will help in their performance. Warne was particularly thankful to the Cobras for the practice and said that he hoped this would help the players prepare for the task ahead.







Shane also mentioned that he would miss his stars of the last season, Watson who is on the Australian squad named for the series in Pakistan in Abu Dhabi and Sohail Tanvir who was forced not to participate following pakistan boards diapproval of the IPL. Both were instrumental with the performance RR posted last time around. Warne hopes that the new imports in the name of Henderson will prove as good replacements for the men he's lost.

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Kunal Janu
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IPL 2: Rajasthan Royals to play 2 practice maches against the Cobras

Some of the teams taking part in the IPL have started practice. Mumbai Indians wanting to make a mark this time had started practice in South Africa well before the news of IPL 2 being held in South Africa broke. Rajasthan Royals, the reigning champions will be looking for another dominating performance this season as they take on Bangalore Royal Challengers in the second game of the tournament. For full match Schedule visit: IPL 2: schedule

The Rajasthan Royals, winners of the inaugural IPL, will take on the Cobras, champions of South Africa's Pro20 series this season, in two Twenty20 matches ahead of the second season of the IPL. The two games are scheduled for April 11 and 12 and have been billed as the "Clash of Champions".


"We are delighted to be working with the Cobras at Newlands during our IPL tournament preparation. It's a great venue, and the "Clash of the Champions" over the Easter weekend will be an exciting contest," Manoj Badale, chairman and co-owner of Rajasthan, said. "It is the first time the Royals have played since winning the IPL tournament and it will be great to see the team back in action."Both teams have also agreed to work together on future cricketing and sponsorship opportunities to further sporting links between India and South Africa. In addition to the two matches, the partnership will also include player exchange to develop young talent. News Courtesy: CricInfo

Team Kolkatta Knight Riders start practice from April the 5th, Chennai Super Kings have started practice at their home base in Chennai and will be flying to South Africa in a short while. Captain MS Dhoni will first visit his hometown Ranchi in Jharkhand before he departs to South Africa. Rajasthan Royals can expect good prcatice as the Cobras have a strong line up including players in the likes of Gibbs, Duminy, Ontong and the rest. They play their practice match at capetown and will try to make it their base as run-up to this season which runs from April 18 to May 24. Capetown has already seen a large Indian Audience during the T20 world championship in 2008.

I'll be posting a number of blongs this pre-IPL-Season regarding players and how the teams line up. Do come back for more news, reviews and previews.






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Kunal Janu
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