IPL 2018, RR vs RCB: Hits and Misses from the match between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore

The Rajasthan Royals kept their IPL campaign alive by clinching a 30-run victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the last league match for both the franchises at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Saturday (May 19).

Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and in a decision that proved to be pivotal, chose to bat first on the day. His team put up a total of 162 for five wickets in 20 overs and managed to defend it comprehensively in the second innings.

Here are the hits and misses from the game:

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#5 Shreyas Gopal

Gopal spun a web around the RCB batsmen

The leg-spinner was an inspired addition to the RR team on the day, as he scalped four wickets in four overs, giving away just 16 runs in his incredible spell.

He turned the tide of the innings with his turning variations, scalping the important wicket of AB de Villiers in his last over. It was an outstanding performance from the former Mumbai Indians player, as he took his team home with his authoritative display on the day.

#4 Miss: Virat Kohli

Kohli has been dismissed by spin a lot of times this season

The RCB skipper, who is the chase-master of this generation, fell for a score of just 4 runs in the second innings of the game.

Krishnappa Gowtham troubled him from the word go and ensured that the right-handed batsman felt uncomfortable throughout his small stay at the crease in Jaipur.

Kohli was caught driving off the leg-spinner's delivery, as the RCB opener left a gate wide open for the ball to snake through into the woodwork.

Kohli has been dismissed by spin more than seam in this edition of the tournament: a stat, which has come as a surprise to many!

#3 Hit: Krishnappa Gowtham

Gowtham put in a fantastic

all-round

performance against RCB

The Karnataka all-rounder was the x-factor in RR's team once again, as his imperative presence with the bat as well as the ball turned out to be crucial in the home side's victory.

Not only did he pick up the massive wicket of Kohli within the first three overs of the game, but provided a finishing impetus to Rajasthan in the first innings.

It was his sixes in the last over that pushed them to an above-par total, switching the momentum in RR's favour at half-time.

He scored 14 off just five deliveries with the bat in his hand, while picking up a wicket and giving away just six runs in two overs with the ball.

#2 Miss: RCB middle order

RCB's over-dependence on Kohli and ABD was exposed

It was a poor display with the bat from the RCB middle-order, and their over-reliance on Kohli and AB de Villiers was exposed yet again in the chase. Moeen Ali, Mandeep Singh, Colin de Grandhomme, and Sarfaraz Khan were all dismissed for single-digit scores.

Gopal was the thorn in the side of all these batsmen, except Khan, who fell to the precise spin-bowling from Ish Sodhi.

De Villiers scored an impressive fifty on the day, and if even one of these batsmen would've stayed with him on the crease, the result might've fallen in the other direction for the Bangalore franchise.

#1 Hit: Rahul Tripathi

Tripathi made the most of his opportunity as an opener

The right-handed batsman was given an opportunity at the top of the order for the second consecutive time, and this time around, he grabbed it with both hands.

Scoring an unbeaten 80 with a strike rate of 140, he made a statement to the RR management and his skipper, advocating for his place as the opener of the side.

It was his knock that powered RR to a fighting total. Tripathi took up the mantle of being the anchor of the innings, doing it with a lot of class, panache, and persistence.

If RR manage to make it to the playoffs tomorrow, they must retain him at the top of the order, so as to get the best out of his willow.

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