Win Projections to be updated soon
Two teams that hadn’t won a game went head to head at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. The 14th match of the season featured Rajasthan Royals taking on Royal Challengers Bangalore. One team had to remain winless after the encounter and who else but RCB?
Ajinkya Rahane had the luck by his side as the coin dropped in his favor. He chose what most captains have chosen this year. RCB batted first with the captain Virat Kohli opening the innings with Parthiv Patel. Kohli had the intent from the outset as he farmed most of the strike rate. When the powerplay came to an end, RCB scored 48 and Kohli faced 23 deliveries while his partner played 13.
Shreyas Gopal came into the attack and he castled Kohli off a superb googly for 23. He then made his night better when he accounted for the wicket of AB de Villiers in the next over for 13. Shimron Hetmeyer too fell prey to Gopal when the left-hander departed after scoring just 1 from 9 balls. After 11 overs, the visitors found themselves struggling at 74/3.
Parthiv Patel and Marcus Stoinis added 53 runs for the 4th wicket. Just like the last game, Parthiv carried his team alone. Before getting out in the 18th over, he scored 67 from 41 balls. Stoinis and Moeen Ali threw their bats around and dragged the score to 158/4 after 20 overs.
The RR openers came out all guns blazing in pursuit of 159. Rahane and Jos Buttler went after the bowling and put pressure on the opposition. From the powerplay, they collected 55 runs. The captain was the first wicket to fall in the innings for 22 in the 8th over. As usual, the wicket-taker for RCB was Yuzvendra Chahal.
Buttler kept blazing while the No.3 batsman Steve Smith had the time to get his eye in. The Englishman brought up his fifty in the 12th over as the score read 101/1. Chahal came back to remove Buttler for 59 off 43 balls in the 13th over. RR needed 54 from the last 7 overs.
Rahul Tripathi came out to join Smith in the middle. With very little pressure of the required run rate, they the duo brought the side close. They were aided by some sloppy fielding from RCB as the visitors dropped a number of catches. Smith scored 38 before holding out in the 19th over. Tripathi made and unbeaten 34 as RR got home with 1 ball to spare.
RR vs RCB Match Summary
Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bowl first
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 158/4 in 20 overs
Parthiv Patel 67 (41), Marcus Stoinis 31 (28)
Shreyas Gopal 12/3 (4), Jofra Archer 47/1 (4)
Rajasthan Royals: 164/3 in 19.5 overs
Jos Buttler 59 (43), Steve Smith 38* (31)
Yuzvendra Chahal 17/2 (4), Mohammed Siraj 25/1 (4)
Rajasthan Royals won by 7 wickets
Player of the Match: Shreyas Gopal
Twitter wasn’t impressed with RCB who lost the 4th game on the trot
Umesh Yadav puts down a sitter and RCB on the mat
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 2, 2019
Great reaction from Shreyas Gopal to getting Kohli bowled. Just joy and a bit of surprise.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 2, 2019
Wonder what psychological impact the @RCBTweets #IPL2019 disaster will have on @imVkohli weeks before a World Cup. Maybe he should take a break from all the negativity? #RRvRCB
— Sumanth Raman (@sumanthraman) April 2, 2019
https://twitter.com/MikkhailVaswani/status/1113140944629633029
https://twitter.com/rajasthanroyals/status/1113141810207981568
Nice 1st Victory for my @rajasthanroyals boys … #IPL2019
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) April 2, 2019
Finally a Royal Victory. But not for Kohli’s Team. Team selection, big players misfiring, execution of plans….plenty to ponder. Will be a Herculean task for them to turn it around enough to qualify. #RRvRCB #IPL
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 2, 2019
Dear @imVkohli I feel bad for you man. But you have the wrong team. Too many missed catches. Not judging. You know better than those sitting before TV sets. Hope to see you on the Winning end someday. #IPL12 #RRvsRCB
— AJ (@arjunjaidka) April 2, 2019
Jokes aside, #RR played better cricket coming into this game despite having lost all three games prior. I know #RCB can talk about that “No Ball” vs #MI but they have had two dreadful match days getting into this contest. #RRvsRCB #IPL2019
— RK (@RK_sports) April 2, 2019
Some More Tweets as RCB Lost its 4th Game in a row
https://twitter.com/rajasthanroyals/status/1113139031255273472
https://twitter.com/LMKMovieManiac/status/1113138739696377856
Nice, controlled run chase by @rajasthanroyals. #RCB needed another bowler to help Chahal but they didn't find him.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 2, 2019
https://twitter.com/SubodhAgarwal1/status/1113138625925931008
In a competition between "I will get out" and "I won't take a catch", Steven Smith wins…#IPL2019
— लपगुरु ! (@SomeshVerma) April 2, 2019
It's sad to see RCB play such poor cricket. A lot of pressure on Virat, ABD and Chahal. If they have to make some inroads in this tournament, they will have to get their other players to contribute #RRvRCB
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) April 2, 2019
https://twitter.com/rajasthanroyals/status/1113143029907554305
https://twitter.com/sthalekar93/status/1113140036604710912
