Bengaluru: Rajasthan Royals leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal took a memorable hat-trick in a five overs a side contest that was eventually called off due to intermittent rain, pushing Royal Challengers Bangalore out of the IPL play-off race here on Tuesday.
Needing 22 off the final 10 balls, Royals were favourites to pocket two points but showers lashed Chinnaswamy again and both teams had to share a point each.
The no result keeps Royals mathematically alive in the tournament as they have 11 points from 13 games with one match to go.
The visitors were 41 for one in 3.2 overs when the rain returned to the Chinnaswamy with Sanju Samson (28 off 13) being their top-scorer. RCB got a point from the called off game, taking them to nine points from 13 games, ending all their hopes of progressing in the tournament. Royals limited RCB to 62 for seven in five overs following Gopal’s hat-trick.
Royals had won the toss and opted to field but rain arrived and delayed the start of the game by three hours and thirty minutes.
The game finally began after a long delay, courtesy a commendable effort from the ground staff which readied the ground following multiple spells of heavy rain. RCB skipper Virat Kohli (25 off 7).
The loyal fans of the hosts, who stayed back for hours in the hope of a game, managed to get their money’s worth with Kohli smashing Aaron for another six before AB de Villiers (10 off 4) got into the act as the first over went for 23 runs. However, Gopal brought Royals right back into the game in the following over by removing Kohli and de Villiers off successive balls before sending back Marcus Stoinis for a memorable hat-trick.
With the following batsmen going for the big hits from the word go, RCB did manage to cross the 50-run mark.
Royals pacer Oshane Thomas too made instant impact by taking two wickets in one over.
The start of the IPL match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals has been severely affected and delayed due to rain at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Tuesday.
Soon after the toss rain returned to the ground, prompting the groundsmen bring the covers on to the pitch.
The rain also played havoc in the media box as rain water leaked through the roof. However, with the drainage system at Chinnaswamy being one of the best in India the match finally cut down to 5-over game . The SubAir technology does not take more than 20 minutes to get the ground ready as the rain stopped.
Both teams took one point each and that meant Royals still have a chance of making the playoffs; good news for Shreyas Gopal at least, considering he took a hat-trick and all. The batsmen he dismissed, by the way, were Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Marcus Stoinis. That’s 40,832 international runs.
The first ball, delivered at 148kph by Varun Aaron, was crashed over the long-off boundary. Next ball, Kohli’s attempted slap over cover took the outside edge for another six. Twenty-three runs came off that first over and everyone was jolted awake after sitting around doing nothing for three hours.\ Kohli began the second over with a straight six off Gopal, and it looked as if the home crowd would get to enjoy a Kohli special.
The change in captaincy – replacing Ajnkya Rahane with Steve Smith – helped RR to an extent as this helped Rahane roar back to form with an elegant century, albeit in a losing cause, against Delhi Capitals.
It also saw Rajasthan bring their campaign back on track by beating teams like Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders.
RR’s last win at the Eden Gardens gave their players some belief and confidence after Ryan Parag led a dramatic late comeback.
They, however, still need to iron out a few flaws which have plagued them of late. The failure to grab moments, which cost them the games against Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings, is one of them.
The biggest positive for Rajasthan has been Sherays Gopal, who, with his googlies, deceived the likes of Virat Kohli, A B de Villiers on a consistent basis. However for RCB it marked the end of road this season in IPL. (PTI)
