<p><strong>Vettori, Dravid, praise performances of Rahane and Shah – Cricket News Update</strong></p>
<p>Skippers Daniel Vettori of the Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Rahul Dravid of the Rajasthan Royals, have expressed admiration for the spectacular batting performances of Ajinkya Rahane and Owais Shah during the teams’ most recent encounter at the M Chinnaswamy
Stadium, Bangalore on April 15.</p>
<p>“We were pretty satisfied with how we started but then Rahane and Shah really took the game away from us,” Vettori observed. “We know we can come back from this. We need to get back to winning ways.”</p>
<p>The Royal Challengers Bangalore, currently second last on the tournament points table, have only managed to win one of the 4 matches they have played so far (their season opener against the Delhi Daredevils – a 20-run win).</p>
<p>Luck did not favour them in their recent clash with the Royals, and after losing the toss, they went on to watch in near helplessness as Rahane struck the tournament’s first century (103 off 60 deliveries), and joined Shah (60 off 26) for a 121-run stand
off 50.</p>
<p>Highlights of Rahane’s performance included a substantial opening stand with skipper Rahul Dravid (62-run partnership) and a remarkable outing in the 14<sup>th</sup> over, during which he hit six consecutive fours off Sreenath Aravind.</p>
<p>Dravid, who had previously blamed the inexperience of his side for their previous loss against the Kolkata Knight Riders, was all praises for his young side, claiming they had performed brilliantly against international players.</p>
<p>“Shah and Rahane batted splendidly,” Dravid said. “Some of their shots were incredible and they played those shots against a side that has five international bowlers.”</p>
<p>In addition to the performances of the batsmen, the Royals’ bowlers also stepped up to the challenge with spirit. After Pankaj Singh had dismissed the Royal Challengers’ openers Mayank Agarwal (34) and the lackluster Chris Gayle (8), Siddharth Trivedi stepped
in and clean bowled 4 of their biggest names - AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli, Saurabh Tiwary, and Daniel Vettori.</p>
<p>Their 59-run victory brought the Royals back to the number one spot on the points table which they had occupied at the start of the season, and they will be looking to hold on to it as they prepare to host the Deccan Chargers for a match on April 17.</p>
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