In a must-win encounter for both the sides, Rajasthan Royals hosted Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur in the 53rd match of IPL 2018. RCB, on the back of their 3 consecutive victories, were the favorites to win again. But the hosts, at their fortress, proved to be too good and with a win, kept themselves in contention for a playoff spot.
Initially, it was Ajinkya Rahane who won the toss and elected to bat. RR were without their in-form batsman Jos Buttler who has traveled back for the national duties. In his absence, Jofra Archer was promoted to open the innings. But the move didn’t work as he departed in the 2nd over courtesy Umesh Yadav.
Rahul Tripathi played an excellent knock and along with Rahane, provided stability to the innings. While he reached his fifty off 37 balls, the stand between the duo accumulated 99 runs before Rahane was sent back by Umesh for 33. The pacer added to his wickets tally by removing Sanju Samson off the first ball.
Heinrich Klassen got a game in the absence of Ben Stokes and he proved his worth by scoring 32 from 21 balls. Tripathi’s unbeaten 80 off 58 balls and Krishnappa Gowtham’s cameo of 14 from 5 balls propelled RR to 164/5 after 20 overs.
RCB, in reply, got off to a terrible start as Virat Kohli was castled by Gowtham for 4 in the 3rd over. Parthiv Patel was striking the ball well and AB de Villiers didn’t waste any time in hitting his stripes. They added 55 runs for the 2nd wicket and at one stage, the visitors were cruising towards the target.
But when Shreyas Gopal accounted for the wicket of Parthiv for 33 in the 9th over, the RCB innings was derailed completely and none of the batsmen could hang in there for long. They lost wickets in a bundle and AB de Villiers’s dismissal for 53 by Gowtham proved to be the decisive blow.
Ultimately, they were bowled out for 134 which meant that RR won the match by 30 runs. With this win, they end their league stage with 14 points and jump to the 4th place in the points table. But the problem with their tally is the net run-rate as they are languishing at -0.25. In order to qualify, they would hope that Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab lose their respective matches.
Match Summary
Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bat first
Rajasthan Royals: 164/5 in 20 overs
Rahul Tripathi 80 (58), Ajinkya Rahane 33 (31)
Umesh Yadav 25/3 (4), Mohammed Siraj 33/1 (4)
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 134/10 in 19.2 overs
AB de Villiers 53 (35), Parthiv Patel 33 (21)
Shreyas Gopal 16/4 (4), Ben Laughlin 15/2 (2)
Rajasthan Royals won by 30 runs
Player of the Match: Shreyas Gopal
Here’s how Twitter reacted to RCB’s exit
No Buttler, no Stokes, no worries. #RR
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 19, 2018
Kohli was dismissed by spinners only twice in last two seasons of the #IPL This #IPL, spinners have dismissed him 8 times…bowled 5 times. Very unlike him… #RRvRCB
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 19, 2018
RCB are out of Playoff race.
RR can make it if:
a) MI lose to DD and KXIP don't beat CSK by 50+ runs
b) KKR lose to SRH and KXIP don't beat CSK by 50+ runs#RRvRCB #RCBvRR #IPL2018— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) May 19, 2018
RCB fan coming out of coma after 10 years. #RRvRCB pic.twitter.com/aDXTQyAizp
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) May 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/FrDeadpool/status/997832444601651201
https://twitter.com/Tharsikaran/status/997843633587081216
https://twitter.com/dailydramadoze/status/997843617229299713
Rajasthan Royals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 30 Runs #RRvRCB #IPL2018 pic.twitter.com/ba4GpAuHfz
— RVCJ Media (@RVCJ_FB) May 19, 2018
Had been that kind of tournament for RCB. 59/9 after the 8 th over. Shreyas Gopal was outstanding and I really feel @rajasthanroyals would be delighted with Tripathi coming good at the top. In this line up, he has to open #RRvRCB
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 19, 2018
Bowling apart – Heinrich Klaasen has had a brilliant day at work. Valuable runs and excellent glovework behind the stumps.. Turning track, ball keeping low by didn’t miss a thing. #RRvRCB @rajasthanroyals
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) May 19, 2018
A majestic meltdown from #RCB, and a right Royal knees up for #Rajasthan Kohli’s men bridesmaids again.. #RRvsRCB
— mark butcher (@markbutcher72) May 19, 2018
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