IPL 2018, RR vs RCB: 4 Reasons why Royal Challengers Bangalore lost to Rajasthan Royals

The 53rd match of the IPL saw Kohli's RCB take on Ajinkya Rahane’s Royals. This was the biggest match of the IPL for both the teams with a spot in the playoffs on the line.

Rahane won the toss and chose to bat first on a dry Jaipur pitch. He took a bold decision and sent Archer to open the batting along with Tripathi.

But Archer’s meagre IPL with the bat continued as he got out for a duck. Rahane and Tripathi built steadily but Umesh Yadav struck twice in a single over to shift the pendulum in RCB's favour.

A late cameo from Gowtham took RR to a decent total of 164. Chasing 164, Kohli got out cheaply but Parthiv Patel and AB De Villiers scored at a good rate and kept the match in RCBs favour.

Gopal got both Parthiv and the in-form Moeen in a single over which took the momentum out of RCBs chase.

It was the beginning of a dramatic collapse as the RCB batsmen succumbed to some world-class wrist spin bowling and RCB eventually lost by 30 runs.

Here are the four reasons for their loss.

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#1 Shreyas Gopal’s bowling

Gopal spun a web around the RCB batsmen

Until this match, Gopal had experienced mixed fortunes in this IPL. At the start of the IPL, he was on a roll with his first four wickets being Raina, Dhoni, Kohli, De Villiers.

Then the batsmen figured him out and he went for runs. He was dropped for a few matches but got a huge opportunity to prove himself against world class players like Kohli, ABD.

Throughout his spell, he flighted the ball beautifully inviting the batsman to go for a big shot and reaped rewards for his efforts with four wickets.

The highlight of his spell was his second over where he first got Patel with a slider then got Ali’s wicket with a googly and leapt to take a wonderful return catch.

In his last over, he beat De Villiers defence with another googly and it was a night he will remember for a long time.

#2 Weakness against wrist spin

The spinners were in top form for Rajasthan

Even though T20 has led to many innovative shots being played by the batsman, it has also lead to the batsmen’s defence exposed to spin bowling on slow tracks.

The scenario was exactly the same in today’s match as RCB batsmen looked like they did not have a clue on how to play wrist spin.

The failed to pick the googly from the bowler’s hand and their feet never got to the pitch of the ball while playing big shots. This lead to a massive collapse and a humbling defeat for RCB.

#3 Gowtham’s all-round performance

Gowtham once again showcased his

all-round

capabilities

Krishnappa Gowtham grabbed eyeballs when he was sold to RR for a whopping price and he has proved his price tag with some noteworthy performances against CSK and MI.

He yet again proved his potential as a big hitter with some late strikes with the bat which propelled RR to 164.

Then, he returned to open the bowling and bowled a beautiful first over where he conceded only two runs and in the next over he dealt a body blow to RCBs chances of qualifying to the playoffs with a more offcut that shattered Kohli’s stumps.

#4 Over-reliance on De Villiers and Kohli

The over-reliance on Kohli and ABD was evident this season as well

When this season started much thought this could be RCBs year as this squad had all the bases covered.

But once again RCB proved all of us wrong with yet another disappointing season. The one major reason RCB fails every year is that of their over-reliance on Kohli and De Villiers.

This match too RCB again committed the same mistake as no one stepped up and grabbed the opportunity as Kohli got out cheaply.

Their middle order woes came to the fore again and yet again RCB had to return home without a trophy.

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