Ahmedabad, May 22: Rajasthan Royals ended Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s eventful campaign in the Indian Premier League with a four-wicket win in the Eliminator here on Wednesday.
Sent into bat, Royal Challengers Bengaluru scored 172/8. In reply, Rajasthan Royals chased down the target of 173 with six balls to spare.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal struck a 30-ball 45, while Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer chipped in with quick-fire 36 and 26 respectively.Earlier, Rajat Patidar top-scored for RCB with 34 off 22 balls.In-form opener Virat Kohli made 33 off 24 balls before falling to wily leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, while Mahipal Lomror scored a brisk 17-ball 32.
Senior India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled beautifully to finish with excellent figures of 2/19 in four overs while taking the wickets of Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell off successive balls. Avesh Khan took 3/44 in his four overs.
Earlier, Under pressure Rajasthan Royals put forth a sharp bowling effort to restrict Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 172/8 in their Indian Premier League Eliminator here on Wednesday.
Led by Trent Boult (4-0-16-1), who produced an opening spell of 3-0-6-1, RR bowlers kept taking wickets at crucial stages to control the game.
The venerable Ravichandran Ashwin (4-0-19-2), having previously gone wicketless for a significant stretch, left an indelible mark with wickets Cameron Green (27) and Glenn Maxwell (0) on consecutive deliveries while Avesh Khan (3/44) also chipped in.
Rajasthan’s bowling was adequately backed up by their fielders, particularly Rovman Powell, who took two stunning catches that clipped RCB’s progress.
Powell complemented Boult’s brilliance in the powerplay with an outstanding catch, running in from deep midwicket to put in a dive in front when Faf du Plessis (17) hit one hard towards him for RR’s first breakthrough.
On a docile deck, Boult controlled both his swing and lines to perfection as he kept it tight for the batters to score off him.
But, if Boult kept a lid on RCB, his fellow seamers failed to follow the lead.
Sandeep Sharma gave away 25 runs in his two overs while Avesh went for 17 runs in his one as RCB motored to 50/1 in the powerplay.
Virat Kohli (33 off 24) looked set for a long haul but the wily Yuzvendra Chahal (1/43) cut short his stay in the eighth over, getting the RCB mainstay caught at deep midwicket where substitute fielder Donovan Ferreira took a fine catch above his head.
Chahal lured Kohli for the slog sweep with a delivery that hardly turned and Kohli failed in execution as he hit straight to the fielder. (PTI)
