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The Rajasthan Royals ended their four-game losing streak to beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Eliminator at the Narendra Modi Stadium. RR registered a four-wicket victory thrillingly to get one step closer to their second IPL trophy while RCB were left disappointed as their dream run of six consecutive wins was shut down.
The 2008 champions won the toss and invited RCB to bat first, who scored quick runs but had a few hiccups. But after losing their captain Faf du Plessis in the fifth over, Bengaluru lost wickets at regular intervals which held their batters back from accelerating through the middle overs.
The middle order of Cameron Green and Rajat Patidar kept them in the game but a few wickets turned the game in RR's favour. Though RCB managed to post 172 at the end of the first innings, Rajasthan was in control ahead of the chase. For RR, Avesh Khan was the pick of the bowlers as ended up with three wickets while giving away 44 runs.
In the second innings, RR had a streaky start but a few dropped chances allowed the opening pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tom Kohler-Cadmore to settle in and gradually accelerate. Even after Kohler-Cadmore's wicket, the Royals were cruising through before losing three quick wickets, courtesy of Karan Sharma and Cameron Green.
But as the game went down the order, Riyan Parag held one game up alongside contributions from Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell helped RR seal the game. RCB did manage to pick up a few late wickets but in the end it wasn't enough as Rajasthan chased down total in the 19th over.
