Royals begin on a wrong note

Defending IPL champions Rajasthan Royals stumbled to a 27-run defeat to South African domestic Twenty20 champions Cape Cobras in a one-off Battle of Champions match at Newlands on Saturday.

Set a target of 143,the Royals went off to a solid start with Rob Quiney scoring a fluent 22-ball 34 studded with five fours and a six. But the rest of the order failed to capitalise on the start. The Royals were undone by the pace-spin duo of Rory Kleinveldt 4/22 and Robin Peterson 2/18. The two gave away just 40 runs off their eight overs sharing six wickets between them.

Brief scores: Cape Cobras 142 for 8 in 20 overs Richard Levi 36; Amit Singh 3/18; Rajasthan Royals 115 all out in 19 overs Rob Quiney 34; Rory Kleinveldt 4/23

Ganguly hits half-century

Bloemfontein: Playing under the captaincy of Brendon McCullum,Sourav Ganguly smashed 55 off 38 balls before retiring,as McCullum XI got the better of Brad Hodge XI by seven runs in a practice game of the Kolkata Knight Riders. Saturdays knock of 55 is Gangulys second fifty in four warm-up games.