IPL 2019, RR vs RCB: The worst captaincy move of the day

Both teams came into this match desperately seeking their first win of IPL 2019. Both Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore had lost their first three matches this season. A defeat in this match would have made chances of qualifying for the playoffs even more slimmer.

Earlier, captain of Rajasthan Royals, Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to field first in front of his home crowd. RCB got off to a great start via an opening partnership of Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel. Then RR brought Shreyas Gopal into the attack who ran through the top-order of RCB.

The leg-spinner seemed to be unplayable as he took the wickets of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, and Shimron Hetmyer to break the back of RCB batting. Then Parthiv Patel stabilized the innings with all-rounder Marcus Stoinis. When the left-hander got out RCB needed an acceleration towards the end. That acceleration was provided by Moeen Ali in the end, his cameo and partnership with Stoinis helped RCB in setting a target of 159 for RR.

RR got off to a flying start courtesy Jos Buttler and Ajinkya Rahane. This is where Virat Kohli seemed to miss a trick as the introduction of spin early on could have troubled Buttler. The English wicket-keeper batsman struggles a bit against spin early in the innings. If Kohli had introduced Moeen Ali or Yuzvendra Chahal to bowl in the powerplay, Buttler might have been sent back to the pavilion.

But it was not the case as Buttler scored a brilliant half-century to put RR in a good position. Chahal took two wickets but the job was already done. Experienced Steve Smith and Rahul Tripathi ensured that RR faced no further hiccups. Tripathi finished off the match in resounding fashion by hitting a six.

Eventually, RR won the match by seven wickets to open their account in the IPL Points Table. On the other hand, RCB is still searching for their first win.