During the 53rd match of the 11th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 30 runs to keep their campaign alive. On the other hand, with this defeat, Royal Challengers Bangalore have become the second team to fall out of contention to qualify for the play-offs in this season of the IPL.
After Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and chose to bat, Rajasthan Royals scored 164-5 in their allotted quota of 20 overs. The Royals posting this total was mainly due to Rahul Tripathi’s career-best IPL performance.
In the second innings, Royal Challengers Bangalore were expected to chase the target but wickets at regular intervals saw them crumbling in the chase to the extent that they ended up scoring 134-10 in 19.2 overs.
Now, we will look at the hits and flops players in this match.
Hits
Rahul Tripathi (RR) – Opening the batting alongside a makeshift opener in Jofra Archer, Rahul Tripathi took the onus on himself as he played throughout the 20 overs, scoring his third IPL half-century, 80* (58), with the help of five fours and three sixes.
Umesh Yadav (RCB) – Opening the bowling alongside Yuzvendra Chahal, Umesh Yadav carried on his good form in the season. Having picked up the wicket of Archer (0) in his first over itself, he dismissed Rahane (33) and Samson (0) in his last over. He registered bowling figures of 4-1-25-1.
Shreyas Gopal (RR) – In which has been a start-stop season for him, ‘Man of the Match’ Shreyas Gopal finally put on a performance which will earn him a spot in the playing eleven if Rajasthan Royals qualifies for the play-offs. Gopal ran through the middle-order of the Royal Challengers which included names like Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali, Mandeep Singh and AB de Villiers. Registering bowling figures of 4-0-16-4, he deceived the opposition batsmen at will.
Flops
Sanju Samson (RR) – Coming in to bat at No. 4 in the 14th over of the innings, Sanju Samson was expected to stand beside Tripathi, aiding him in finishing the innings for his team. That said, he played a half-hearted shot to be dismissed on the first ball that he faced.
Colin de Grandhomme (RCB) – Colin de Grandhomme bowled a couple of harmless overs for the Royal Challengers, giving away 23 runs without picking up any wicket. Coming in to bat at No. 6 in the 11th over, de Grandhomme struggled against the spin of Gopal, scoring 2 (3).
Virat Kohli (RCB) – In a 165-run chase which would kept his team in contention for the play-offs, you anticipate Virat Kohli to stand tall and steer his team through. Opening the batting with Patel, he once against fell to a spinner, scoring 4 (9).
