Rajasthan Royals (RR) secured a spot in Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by defeating Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by 4 wickets in the eliminator clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Wednesday, 22 May.
Chasing a target of 173, the Sanju Samson-led side clinched victory with 6 balls to spare.
RR's Steady Start
RR's chase began with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tom Kohler-Cadmore forming a 44-run partnership off 33 balls before Kohler-Cadmore was dismissed by Lockie Ferguson in the 6th over. At the end of the powerplay, RR stood at 47/1.
Jaiswal then built another steady partnership, adding 25 runs off 23 balls with skipper Sanju Samson. However, Jaiswal fell to a Cameron Green delivery in the 10th over. Shortly after, Samson was stumped by Karn Sharma.
Dhruv Jurel was run out by a sharp throw from Kohli off a delivery from Cameron Green
Image: BCCI
RR suffered their fourth setback when Dhruv Jurel was run out by a sharp throw from Kohli off a delivery from Cameron Green. Jurel departed after contributing 8 runs off 8 balls. At the end of 14 overs, RR's scorecard read 115/4.
Powell's Winning Act
In the 18th over, Siraj bowled out Riyan Parag, delivering RR their fifth blow. With 16 runs needed off as many balls, Rovman Powell took the strike. Shortly after, RCB regained momentum as Siraj claimed Shimron Hetmyer's wicket, with du Plessis catching him on the last ball of the over.
The drama intensified as Powell struck two consecutive boundaries off Lockie Ferguson, followed by a winning six that secured a spot in Qualifier 2 for his team against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
What Happened in the 1st Innings?
In the first innings, pacer Avesh Khan (3-44) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2-19) starred in a disciplined bowling effort as Rajasthan Royals restricted Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 172/8.
On a red soil pitch, Trent Boult (1/16) built pressure with a tidy opening spell, before Ashwin bowled a delightful spell to ensure RCB weren’t let off the hook. Avesh then bounced back from giving 30 runs in his first two overs by conceding only 14 runs in his last two overs and taking three wickets as RR gave away just 47 runs in the last five overs.
Electing to bowl first, Boult kept things tight when he found early swing and denied Virat Kohli as well as Faf du Plessis room to hit boundaries. Kohli began the early fightback by picking a four off Sandeep Sharma before du Plessis closed the second over by thumping a six down the ground.
Kohli's Wicket
Kohli then hooked Avesh for six, before du Plessis scooped and smashed Avesh for two fours. Boult was finally rewarded for his perseverance when du Plessis to deep mid-wicket, where Rovman Powell dived forward to complete a superb low catch.
Kohli slapped and whipped Sandeep for two boundaries in the last over of power-play, as RCB ended the phase at 50/1. But his attempt to slog-sweep Yuzvendra Chahal through the short square boundary resulted in him picking out deep mid-wicket to perfection.
Yuzvendra Chahal scalped Kohli's wicket at 33.
Image: BCCI
Cameron Green muscled Chahal for six and four respectively, before Rajat Patidar was dropped on five by Dhruv Jurel at long-on off Ashwin. The duo would take a four each off Avesh before Ashwin bounced back by removing the duo in the 13th over.
Maxwell's Yet Another Duck
While Green miscued off a carrom ball to a backtracking cover, Glenn Maxwell holed out to long-on to fall for a golden duck. Patidar came out of the shell by striking three quick boundaries, before miscuing one to mid-off against Avesh.
Dinesh Karthik survived an lbw call on review off Avesh but didn’t produce any heroics as he miscued a good short ball from the pacer to cover. Mahipal Lomror hit four boundaries in his 17-ball 32 before slicing to deep point to become Avesh’s third scalp of the match, followed by Karn slicing to sweeper cover on the last ball off Sandeep.
With inputs from IANS.
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