ABU DHABI — Rajasthan Royals kicked off its Indian Premier League 2014 campaign with a nervy four-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad here Friday. After choosing to bowl first, Rajasthan did well to restrict Hyderabad to 133. Hyderabad didn't get going through its innings and although Shikhar Dhawan and David Warner batted together for a better part of the first 12 overs, they were hovering around a run-a-ball. In the middle, Pravin Tambe and Rajat Bhatia did a brilliant job with the ball. Tambe was unlucky not to pick up a wicket, but conceded only 23 runs in four overs. Bhatia went for 22 with two wickets. Rajasthan, in reply, was dented early. Abhishek Nayar opened the batting with Ajinkya Rahane. Nayar was trapped early leg-before by Dale Steyn. Sanju Samson also did not get going and edged one in the third over. Shane Watson too did not have a long stint and Ishant Sharma had him caught behind in seventh over. Stuart Binny then joined Ajinkya Rahane and in tandem, they put up 77 in good time. In an attempt to finish things off early, Rahane fell when he lofted Amit Mishra to long-off for 58. As Rajasthan got closer, it lost wickets. However, Binny (48 off 32 balls) continued and anchored the run-chase through to the last over. Scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 133 for 6 in 20 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 38, David Warner 32; Rajast Bhatia 2 for 22) lost to Rajasthan Royals 135 for 6 in 19.3 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 59, Stuart Binny 48 not out; Dale Steyn 2 for 29, Amit Mishra 2 for 26) by 4 wickets. Punjab impresses against Chennai Glenn Maxwell scored an impressive 95 while David Miller played an unbeaten innings of 54 as Kings-XI Punjab registered its first win chasing a 206 run target against Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League in Abu Dhabi Friday. Maxwell and Miller completely dominated the proceedings sharing a 115-run stand as Punjab overhauled the target in the penultimate over. Earlier, Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith put on a brilliant batting performance as Chennai piled on a huge 205 for three in 20 overs. The openers put on 123 runs for the first wicket with McCullum scoring 67 off 45 balls with four boundaries and five sixes. Smith followed it up with an impressive 66 off 43 balls including six hits to the fence and three over it. Raina scored a steady 19-ball 23 while Dhoni fired a 10-ball 26 to ensure Chennai crossed the 200-run mark. Glen Maxwell was declared Man of the Match for his brilliant effort. Scores: Punjab 206 for 4 (Maxwell 95, Miller 54 not out) beat Chennai 205 for 4 (McCullum 67, Smith 66) by six wickets. — Agencies
