IPL 2019: RR vs RCB - Hits and Flops
Rajasthan Royals ended up as the better of the bottom-placers as they won by 7 wickets against Royal Challengers Bangalore in Match 14 of IPL 2019. RR finally got their much-deserved win while RCB once again upset their fans with a fourth consecutive defeat.
Bangalore was the first to bat and kept the scoreboard moving with decent overs occasionally. However, 3 wickets that fell at regular intervals pulled them down, restricting the flow of runs.
The final burst from RCB saw the team pile up 158 runs at the end of the 20 overs. RR started off the chase well after having gained the momentum slowly. However, the first wicket in the 8th over gave RCB some hopes of getting back into the game. Towards the end, Virat Kohli's men took the game to the final over.
But, fortunes were against RCB once again as Rahul Tripathi cleared the boundary in the 5th ball of the final over to take Royals to their first victory of the season.
In a contest that saw two spinners do their best for their teams, we take a look at who fared well and who disappointed when the 'Royal Battle' took place at Jaipur.
#Hit - Shreyas Gopal
The leg spinner from Karnataka was the best bowler of the night. He ripped through the RCB batting lineup, giving them tense moments for a major part of the first innings. Shreyas Gopal ended the match picking up 3 wickets and conceding only 12 runs in 4 overs.
Gopal was introduced into the match in the 6th over, during the power play. However, he left no questions unanswered as the 25-year old sent back Virat Kohli to the dressing room in the very first over. He continued his valuable contributions as AB de Villiers was his next scalp, whom he caught and bowled in the 9th over. When Shimron Hetmyer was caught by Jos Buttler in the 11th over, the leg break bowler had all the big fishes back in the dressing room.
#Hit - Parthiv Patel
Parthiv Patel played the anchor role in the Royal Challengers batting lineup, even when wickets kept falling at one end. The 34-year old was at the crease till the 18th over and scored 67 runs at a strike rate of 163. The innings that had 9 fours and 1 six was finally brought to an end by Ajinkya Rahane's catch off Jofra Archer's delivery.
The wicket-keeper batsman has stood out from his team-mates right from the first match. Until now, Patel is the only RCB batsman who has a double-digit score in every match. He leads RCB's infamous batting lineup in terms of runs scored, with 138 runs from the 4 matches.
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