IPL 2018, RR vs CSK: Shreyas Gopal’s stunning spell is the SK Turning Point of the match

It was tipped to be one of the most exciting encounters of the weekend as both Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore were both tied on 12 points and hence, were just about alive in the tournament. However, in the end, it proved to be a touch one-sided as Rajasthan Royals surprised quite a few people and won by 30 runs.

In a must-win encounter for both sides, Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and opted to bat first on what was a very hot afternoon. Rajasthan Royals were without their key players Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes who returned to England to prepare for the upcoming series against Pakistan.

But, with Buttler missing, Rahane still didn’t come out to open as RR once again surprised everyone and sent Jofra Archer out to open the batting. That move didn’t pay off as the 23-year-old all-rounder fell for a 4-ball duck. However, Rahul Tripathi who has had a quiet tournament so far struck an unbeaten 80. He carried his bat as he faced 58 deliveries and hit 5 fours and 3 sixes.

But it was the cameos from Henrich Klaasen and Krishnappa Gowtham that pushed the score over the 160-mark. Klaasen scored a 21-ball 32 while Gowtham came in and tonked a couple of sixes in the final over. It was a competitive total as it was not an easy pitch to bat. Umesh Yadav was the star for RCB as he picked up 3/25 in his 4 overs.

Chasing 165 on an indifferent surface, RCB lost Virat Kohli early as Krishnappa Gowtham castled the RCB skipper. But despite that big loss, RCB were coasting at 74/1 in 8 overs. Parthiv Patel was looking good and AB de Villiers like always was looking in fabulous touch.

However, RCB kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were bundled out for 134. It was Shreyas Gopal who turned the game with 4 wickets. His spell of 4/16 in his 4 overs is the SK Turning point of the game.

The Karnataka leggie was introduced into the attack right after the powerplay and he bowled a decent first over where he created a half-chance as well. But it was the second over that put pressure on RCB. In his second over, Gopal got one to skid through and sneak under Parthiv Patel’s bat and Henrich Klaasen spotted the RCB wicket-keeper overbalancing took the bails off to have him stumped. The hero of RCB’s last game Moeen Ali was out caught and bowled a couple of deliveries as Gopal deceived the England all-rounder with a wrong’un.

Gopal continued to pick wickets as he picked up the wicket of Mandeep in his next over before prizing out AB de Villiers in his final over. Gopal who dismissed de Villiers in the previous encounter foxed the star batsman with a beautiful wrong’un. De Villiers was committed to the drive and dragged his back foot outside the crease and was out stumped to give Gopal a four-wicket haul.

That wicket of AB de Villiers more or less sealed the game for RR as RCB couldn’t recover from that stunning unchanged 4-over spell from Shreyas Gopal.

This 30-run win also improved their net run rate a tad as it went from -0.403 to -0.246. But with this win RR have kept their hopes of qualifying for the playoffs alive. However, they will need some results to go their way as they might be tied on 14 points with multiple teams and the net run rate will most likely come into the picture.