JAIPUR: Michael Lumb butchered the Kings XI Punjab bowlers with a whirlwind 43-ball 83 as Rajasthan Royals spanked their

opponents by nine

wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match here today.

Lumb blasted as many as 16 boundaries and

two sixes and amassed

109 off 57 balls with opener Naman Ojha (44 off 37 balls) to help Rajasthan overhaul the target

with five overs to spare and inch closer to booking their semi-final berth.

Earlier, Mahela Jayawardene top-scored with a 33-ball 44 and Yuvraj Singh hit a 28-run cameo but Kings XI lost momentum and could manage only 27 runs losing two wickets in the last five overs to score a modest 153.

In Chennai on Tuesday, Sachin Tendulkar’s (45) departure due to exhaustion led to a sensational batting collapse of Mumbai Indians as Chennai Super Kings thrashed them by 24 runs.

Chasing a modest target of 166, Mumbai were cruising all along before Tendulkar left the field in the ninth over at 62-1 after making a 28-ball 36

which contained six fours. But once he left, Mumbai lost way with wickets falling like nine pins

and they could make just 141-9 as their five-match winning streak was snapped at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

Chennai produced a

superb bowling and

fielding display and turn on the heat on the Mumbai Indians once Tendulkar left the field.

All the CSK bowlers took wickets with Thilan Thushara and R Ashwin being the most successful with two wickets apiece

by conceding 16 and

22 runs respectively. Sudeep Tyagi, Doug Bollinger, Shadab Jakati and Suresh Raina chipped in with a wicket each.

Earlier, Chennai made 165-4 with Matthew Hayden top-scoring with a 31-ball 35, while captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (18-ball 31) and S Badrinath (22-ball 30 not out) making useful contributions. With Tuesday’s win, their third on the trot, CSK are now at fourth spot with 10 points in 10 matches while Mumbai retained the top spot with 14 points from nine matches.