Clash of the Royals ends in RR’s victory!
An easy chase for the Rajasthan Royals in the end but it was all set up by the man from Karnataka, Shreyas Gopal. His googlies proved too good for the batsmen of RCB. 15–20 runs more for the Royal Challengers could have made matters difficult for Rajasthan Royals considering the slowness of the Jaipur wicket.
After winning his fourth toss in a row, Ajinkya Rahane decided to bowl first. RCB started with a flurry of runs in the powerplay, scoring 48 runs without losing a wicket. Then came the spinner from Karnataka- Shreyas Gopal. He destroyed the backbone of RCB’s batting lineup by getting the wickets of Kohli, de Villiers and Hetmyer. Now he has got both Kohli and de Villiers on all occasions he has bowled to them! Parthiv Patel stabilised the Bangalore innings with Marcus Stoinis by adding 53 runs for the 4th wicket. Good finish from Stoinis and Moeen Ali boosted the score to 158–4 at the end of 20 overs. Parthiv Patel was the highest scorer with 67 runs off 41 balls. Spinners proved to be the difference as the Rajasthan spinners finished with combine figures of 8–1–31–3. It was an off day for Jofra Archer as his economy almost touched 12. Very rare!
This chase could have been tricky because of the nature of the Jaipur wicket which tends to slow down. Jos Buttler and Ajinkya Rahane started really well, scoring 60 runs for the opening wicket. A brilliant spell from Yuzvendra Chahal increased the required run rate for the Rajsthan Royals and he finished with figures of 4–0–17–2. Steven Smith came in at No.3 today and scored 38 runs off 31 deliveries. He would have liked to finish the match but got dismissed in the penultimate over. Rahul Tripathi played an important role in the chase, smashing 34 runs off just 23 deliveries at a strike rate of 148! The match was finished by Rahul with a six over deep mid-wicket.
Man of the Match went to Shreyas Gopal for his figures of 4–1–12–3 including the wickets of Kohli and de Villiers
With this win Rajasthan move up to the sixth spot, just ahead of the Mumbai Indains on net run-rate. RCB still reeling at the bottom of the table with no points. Lot of positives though for the Rajasthan Royals, the runs scored by Rahul and Smith should be an encouraging sign for the Royals. On the other hand RCB have a lot to think about, batting order, bowling depth and death bowling, to name a few. Now they have to win at least 7 of their last 10 matches to make it to the playoffs. Lot of work to do for Kohli and the coach Gary Kirsten. RCB now face KKR at their home ground in Bangalore looking for first points on the table.
Action now shifts to Mumbai where the Mumbai Indians host the table-toppers Chennai Super Kings. Would be an intersting match as both teams looking for a win.
