Australia's Steve Smith struck his first half-century of this Indian Premier League (IPL) season but his Rajasthan Royals team still lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets Sunday. Smith hit an unbeaten 73 off 59 balls to guide Rajasthan to 139-3, boosting his return from a ball-tampering ban that ended March 28. Smith and his compatriot David Warner missed the 2018 IPL over a cheating controversy that got the pair a 12-month suspension from state and international cricket. While Warner has been in impressive form to top the batting chart with 279 runs in five matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, Smith finally hit big after scores of 20, 28 and 38. He built crucial partnerships including a 72-run second-wicket stand with England's Jos Buttler, who made 37, after being invited to bat first. "He is not a big-hitter of the ball. He's not an Andre Russell or a Ben Stokes. He gets the gaps. He had a bit of hand injury as well. I respect him," said West Indies great Brian Lara, commentating for IPL. Smith's effort was not enough as Kolkata chased down its modest target of 140 in 13.5 overs with Chris Lynn top-scoring with 50 off 32 deliveries. The former Australia captain also took a sharp catch at first slip off the bowling of leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal to dismiss Sunil Narine for 47. Smith and Warner are keen to impress with their performance in the world's most popular T20 league that runs close to the World Cup starting in May. The Twenty20 extravaganza is tentatively scheduled to end on May 12, wrapping up less than three weeks before the start of the 50-over showpiece event in England and Wales. Australia is expected to name its team for the defense of its World Cup title over the next week, with the 15-man squads needing to be finalized by April 23. India captain Virat Kohli's miserable IPL season continued on Sunday when his Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to the Delhi Capitals by four wickets, their sixth defeat in six matches this season. Lynn gets lucky after another IPL bail fail Australian Chris Lynn was tempted to visit a casino to cash in on his luck after a miraculous reprieve while batting during Kolkata Knight Riders' Indian Premier League (IPL) victory over Rajasthan Royals Sunday. The 28-year-old was on 13 when he inside-edged a delivery from paceman Dhawan Kulkarni onto his stumps and started walking off without bothering to look behind. Kulkarni was celebrating too but it was soon cut short when the bowler realized that the ball had lit up the zing bail but failed to dislodge it, ricocheting off the leg stump to the fine-leg boundary for a four instead. Lynn went on to score 50 off 32 deliveries in Kolkata's successful eight-wicket win. "I always like to ride my luck," Lynn told teammate Harry Gurney in a video posted on the IPL website. "I inside-edged it, and then I heard a second noise. I thought (the wicket-keeper) might catch it or the bails might come off, but I got lucky. "I might actually go the casino tonight!" It was the third time in this year's IPL that a batsman had benefited from the bails refusing to be dislodged. Rajasthan was also on the receiving end in an earlier match when Jofra Archer's delivery rolled onto the stumps but Chennai Super Kings captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, yet to open his account, survived as bails could not be dislodged. Dhoni, who went on to make a match-winning 75 off 46 deliveries, suffered the heartbreak himself on Saturday when bails did not fall despite his direct hit with Punjab opener Lokesh Rahul short of his ground. — Agencies
