3 mistakes RCB made in Eliminator vs RR in IPL 2024

The hunt for their first IPL title continues for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), as they lost the Eliminator to Rajasthan Royals. The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad hosted the contest on Wednesday, May 22.

The Bengaluru-based franchise batted first and got off to a good start, with Virat Kohli (33) and Faf du Plessis (17). Cameron Green (27) and Rajat Patidar (34) provided crucial contributions but was dismissed at a wrong time.

The left-handed Mahipal Lomror slammed 32 off 17 to power RCB to 172. Avesh Khan was the pick of the bowlers for RR with 3-44, followed by Ravichandran Ashwin with 2-19.

In response, the Royals began well by finding consistent boundaries. The first to get dismissed was Tom Kohler-Cadmore (20), while Sanju Samson (17) also followed his suit.

Nervertheless, Yashasvi Jaiswal ((45) and Riyan Parag (36) helped the team to stay in good stead. Shimron Hetmyer (26) was impressive, while Rovman Powell (16*) held his nerve to seal the game.

Following their four-wicket victory, the Royals booked a date with SunRisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2 on May 24 in Chennai. On that note, let's take a look at three mistakes made by RCB in the Eliminator against RR.

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#1 RCB batters couldn't convert starts into a big knock

Batting first, Royal Challengers Bengaluru got off to a decent start with Virat Kohli (33) and Faf du Plessis (17). Both batters did well to provide a positive momentum. However, after their dismissals, RCB lost the plot, with Cameron Green and Rajat Patidar failing to lead a recovery.

Patidar (34) and Green (27) tried hard but couldn't get the timing going as the top-four were dismissed rather cheaply. As a result, RCB posted a par-total of 172, which didn't prove enough.

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#2 Failure of Glenn Maxwell and Dinesh Karthik

Glenn Maxwell's dreadful IPL season continued, as the all-rounder was dismissed for a golden duck.

Despite the team losing wickets in a cluster, Maxwell tried to clear the long-on boundary but holed out. More importantly, he should have come at his preferred No. 3 position, instead of Green due to his ability to surprise the opponents.

Dinesh Karthik, who played his last IPL game, failed to get going. He was dismissed for 11 off 13, which opened the floodgates for the Royals. Karthik's dismissal certainly put RCB on the back foot, robbing them off a final flourish.

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#3 Bowlers couldn't put RR under pressure

Defending a chaseable score requires early wickets, but the flat pitch offered assistance to batters, making life difficult for the bowlers.

After back-to-back breakthroughs in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson in the 10th over, RCB needed to be tight with their lines and lengths and keep picking consistent wickets.

As they say, momentum/performance always plays a role in winning games in the IPL. However, things didn't happen as per plans, as RR counter-attacked to win the game.