IPL24: Rajasthan Royals crashes RCB party , win by 4 wkts to play Qualifier 2

 

Once again the dream of Virat Kohli, the IPL trophy remained elusive even in 17 years.  Kohli's RCB lost to Rajasthan Royals in the IPL eliminator on Wednesday.  Bangalore batted first and scored 172 runs at Ahmedabad ground.  Kohli scored 33 runs.  Rajasthan did not have any particular problem in chasing runs though there were some nervy moments .  Bengaluru bowlers fought but could not win .  By winning this match, Rajasthan reached the second qualifier of IPL.  Their opponent there is Sunrisers Hyderabad.

 Bengaluru captain Faf du Plessis lost the toss in the crucial match.  Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson decided to bowl first.  Rajasthan did well in the first 3 overs of the power play.  Especially Trent Boult.  Kohli and Duplessis were having trouble hitting the ball.  Two batters opened their hands from the fourth over.  Seeing that Boult was bowling well, Sanju gave the ball to him in the last over of the power play.  Boult dismissed Duplessis in that over.  Duplessis hit in the mid-wicket region.  Rovman Powell jumped forward and took a good catch.  Duplessis returned after scoring 17 runs.

 Kohli was playing well.  But the Rajasthan bowlers were not giving him much room to open his arms.  Kohli got out after being forced to hit Yuzvendra Chahal for a six.  He scored 33 runs.  Cameron Green and Rajat Patidar partnered for the third wicket.  They were playing well.  This pair took the team's run to 100.  Ravichandran Ashwin got the crucial breakthroughs .  He dismissed Green (27) and Glenn Maxwell (0) in two consecutive balls both hitting in the air .

Bengaluru's innings was handled by Patidar and Mahipal Lomror after a couple of knocks.  Patidar was playing well against the spinners.  He was hitting big shots.  Despite giving runs in the first spell, Avesh Khan picked up Patidar's important wicket in the second spell.  Patidar scored 34 runs rapidly.  Dinesh Karthik could have been out on the next ball of Avesh.  The ball hit his pad, the umpire gave out.  Karthik took the review.  There was no clear understanding that the ball hit the bat or the bat pad.  But the third umpire thinks the ball hit the bat.  He gave not out.  Rajasthan coach Kumar Sangakkara could not accept this decision.  He expressed his displeasure.

 Karthik, however, did not stay at the crease for long.  He returned with 11 runs.  Lomror scored 32 runs with a few lusty hits .  Bengaluru scored 172 runs after losing 8 wickets in 20 overs.

 In response, Rajasthan could not score many runs in the first 2 overs.   Jaiswal and Tom Kohler-Cadmore were having problems with the balls of Swapnil and Siraj.  In the third over, Jaiswal tried to hit Yash Dayal .  The ball slipped off the bat.  Green tried to catch.  But the ball hit his hands and goes out.  Jaiswal hit four fours in that over.  Siraj also went for runs in the next over.  As a result, Rajasthan's run rate increased.

Yash Dayal could have taken a wicket again in the power play.  Cadmore  skied a catch while pulling his ball.  Maxwell dropped a simple catch on the boundary.  Bengaluru had to pay the price of repeated catches.  Rajasthan's two openers started playing aggressive shots.  Lockie Ferguson brought RCB back into the game.  Cadmore was bowled by his yorker in the last over of the power play.  He scored 20 runs.

 Jaiswal was playing well coming down to open.  He looked fluent.  Sanju came to number three.  Runs were coming easily as the fielding spread out after the power play.  The bowlers were having trouble catching the ball due to the dew.   Rajasthan took advantage of that .

 Green brought Bangalore back into the game.  He dismissed Jaiswal for 45 runs a he tried a reverse scoop and was caught behind.  Sanju (17) got out in the next over.  Karn Sharma's ball got him  stumped while playing.  Rajasthan lost two batsmen by a narrow margin of runs.  The responsibility of winning the team fell on the shoulders of Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel.  Green was bowling well.  The pressure was building a bit.  Then once again Rajasthan lost wickets in a hurry.  Two batters went  for 2 runs.  Kohli threw well from the boundary.  Jurel ran out for 8.

Parag was still at the crease.  He is in form in the current IPL.  Once again Parag was working as a finisher for Rajasthan.  He was playing big shots one after another with a cool head.  He was accompanied by Shimron Hetmyer who came down at number six.  Green, who was bowling well, was targeted by two Rajasthan batsmen in the last over.  30 runs were needed from the last 24 balls.  Parag and Hetmyer knew that they would win if they bat intelligently.

 Duplessis used all the cards.  But due to the dew, the bowlers were having trouble catching the ball.  As a result, the runs were increasing rapidly.  Parag was dismissed by Siraj for 36 runs as his stumps were rattled as he went for a big shot .  By then, however, the game was in Rajasthan's hands.  But Bengaluru did not give up the fight.  Siraj dismissed Hetmyer for 26 runs in that over as he tried a wild shot in the air . Siraj took the highest 2 wickets in the innings 

 Rajasthan needed 13 runs to win from the last 12 balls.  Powell hit a four off Ferguson's first ball.  Powell hit another four off the next ball.  That's where the match ends.  In the end Rajasthan won the match by 4 wickets with 6 balls to spare and Ashwin for his 2/19 was the player of the match .