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Full Scoring But it was not enough, simply because Morné Morkel received scant bowling support as spearhead of the attack of the Delhi Daredevils.
Botha (39*, 32 balls, 4x4) played a pivotal role to mastermind the run chase, while Dravid (38, 31, 6x4, 1x6) excelled in the unusual role of power hitter.
Ross Taylor finished the run chase with a flurry.
He hit a four and a six off Ashok Dinda in the 19th over, as the Royals raced to 152/4 with nine balls to spare.
Amit Paunikar perished early on in the run-chase by the Royals when he was beautifully clean bowled by Dinda for five to reduce the Royals to 26/1 after three overs.
FREE-FLOWING DRAVID
Dravid, usually a conservative accumulator of the ball, played a free-flowing innings full of adventure.
He hit Irfan Pathan for 15 runs in his first over.
Dravid was removed for 38 by the left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe in the eighth over when he edged it to Naman Ojha, who hanged on to a stunning catch.
The captain, Shane Warne, introduced the big-hitting left-handed batsman Ashok Menaria after the departure of Dravid on 61/2.
It was a move inspired by Menaria’s boundary-hitting ability, and he obliged by hitting three sixes, two of them coming off the left-arm spinners.
The inexperienced Menaria departed for 22 (15 balls) when he tried to hit another boundary off Pathan, and was caught in the covers by Sehwag.
But he had accelerated the Royals to 92/3 in the 11th over, giving the middle-order enough breathing space to get the team over the line.
The introduction of Morkel in the 16th over worked like a charm and he bowled Ajinkya Rahane for 18 with the Royals reduced to 121/4.
Morkel finished with 1/11 from four overs, but Delhi would be desperately disappointed by the poor performance of the support bowlers.
On a slow pitch conducive to spin, Van der Merwe (1/41 in four overs) and Shabhaz Nadeem (0/25) did not feature.
Dinda was also very expensive.
DOUBLE-STRIKE FOR WARNE
During the innings of Delhi, Warne was the pick of the attack with 2/18 in four overs, while Amit Singh captured 1/17 in four overs.
The fast bowler Shaun Tait, in tandem with Warne, had Delhi reeling on 36/4 before Rao and Warner resurrected the innings with their 83-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Rao hit 16 runs in the 19th over, bowled by Siddharth Trivedi, while Tait felt the full brunt of the final onslaught by Irfan Pathan, and conceded 2/40 in four overs.
Tait removed Virender Sehwag for four and Aaron Finch for 11.
Warne’s double-strike accounted for Naman Ojha and Unmukt Chand.
Warne should be applauded for the way in which he used Botha, Dravid and even the young Menaria to camouflage the weaknesses in the top-order.
Botha manoeuvred the ball through the inner ring and kept his cool, thereby setting up the run chase beautifully.
Teams:
Rajasthan Royals: Shane Warne (capt), Amit Paunikar (wk), Swapnil Asnodkar, Rahul Dravid, Ross Taylor, Johan Botha, Abishek Raut, Ashok Menaria, Amit Singh, Aninkiya Rahane, Siddarth Trivedi, Shaun Tait. Delhi Daredevils: Virender Sehwag (capt), David Warner, Unmukt Chaud, Aaron Finch, Naman Ojha (wk), Venugopal Rao, Irfan Pathan, Roelof van der Mewe, Morné Morkel, Ashok Dinda, Shahbaz Nadeem.
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