In Pictures: RR knock out RCB with 4-wicket win in IPL 2024 Eliminator
Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by four wickets in the IPL 2024 Eliminator at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, May 22. Following the triumph, RR booked their place in Qualifier 2, while RCB were knocked out of the tournament.
Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bowl first in the knockout clash. They came up with a clincial effort to restrict Royal Challengers Bengaluru for 172-8.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis (17) was the first to go, brilliantly caught by a diving Rovman Powell off Trent Boult (1-16). Virat Kohli (33 off 24) got a start but fell trying to slog-sweep Yuzvendra Chahal.
Veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin (2-19) came up with a brilliant spell to ensure that Bengaluru remained on the back foot. He dismissed Cameron Green (27 off 21) and the woefully out-of-form Glenn Maxwell (0) off consecutive deliveries.
While Green mistimed a carrom ball, Maxwell hit one to long-on. The twin strikes left RCB in big trouble at 97-4.
The in-form Rajat Patidar looked good again but perished to Avesh Khan (3-44) for 34 off 22. Dinesh Karthik survived a close lbw shout but eventually fell to Avesh for 11 off 13, top-edging a short ball.
Mahipal Lomror contributed a handy 32 off 17 before being Avesh’s third victim as RCB went past 170.
Chasing 173, Rajasthan Royals openers added a crucial 46 in 5.3 overs. The stand was broken when Tom Kohler-Cadmore (20 off 15) was cleaned up by a brilliant yorker from Lockie Ferguson. Yashasvi Jaiswal contributed 45 off 30 but perished in his attempt to scoop Green.
Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson (17 off 13) threw his wicket away. He made a wild charge down the track to leg-spinner Karn Sharma and was stumped by a distance off a wide.
A brilliant piece of fielding from Kohli led to the run-out of Dhruv Jurel (8), who made a rather casual attempt at completing a second run.
In the context of the knockout clash, Riyan Parag (36 off 26) and Impact Player Shimron Hetmyer (26 off 14) featured in a crucial fifth-wicket stand of 45.
Just when RR seemed to be cruising towards victory, Mohammed Siraj gave RCB a glimmer of hope by dismissing both RR batters in the 18th over. Parag was cleaned up as he missed a big hit, while Hetmyer got a leading edge on his flick.
Under pressure, Powell (16* off 8) held his nerve to take Rajasthan Royals over the line in 19 overs. He struck consecutive boundaries off Ferguson to start the penultimate over and finished proceedings with a clean straight hit for a maximum.
RCB skipper reflects on defeat in IPL 2024 Eliminator
After the game, Royal Challengers Bengaluru skipper Du Plessis admitted that his side fell at least 20 runs short of posting a challenging target. He also added that dew in the second innings made life tough for the bowlers.
"I think with the dew coming in the second innings, we thought we were a little bit short with the bat. It felt like we needed a push, a few more runs to make it even more competitive.
"So I did think we were 20 runs shy of a good score on that pitch," Du Plessis told the host broadcast after the conclusion of the match.
The 39-year-old, though, went on to praise his team and lauded them for the fight they put up.
"Credit to our boys who fought really well, hanging in there right till the end. That's all you can ask for, a great fight," Du Plessis added.
Although RCB fell short of winning the IPL trophy yet again, they won a lot of plaudits for the manner in which they fought back after a disastrous start to the tournament.
Bengaluru lost seven of their first eight matches and were languishing at the bottom of the points table.
While most critics and fans had written them off, Du Plessis and Co. stunned everyone, putting together a winning streak of six matches.
They needed to beat Chennai Super Kings in their last league match at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium and also surpass them on net run rate. RCB did both to clinch an unexpected berth in the top-four.
Their stunning fightback gave the franchise's die-hard fans hope that the boys could repeat what the women's team had achieved earlier in the year. Yet again, though, it wasn't meant to be for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.