RCB Won By 7 wickets Against RR, Star Performer De Villiers

RCB Won By 7 wickets Against RR, Star Performer AB De Villiers

Royal Challengers Bangalore pulls off another chase this season, their second against Rajasthan Royals. AB De Villiers was at his destructive best as Rajasthan seemed helpless.

PERFORMERS OF THE DAY

ROYAL CHALLENGERS BANGALORE Bat: AB De Villiers 55*(22) Virat Kohli 43(32) Bowl: Chris Morris 4-0-26-4 Yuzi Chahal 4-0-34-2
RAJASTHAN ROYALS Bat: Steve Smith 57(36) Robin Uthappa 41(22) Bowl: Rahul Tewatia 4-0-30-1 Kartik Tyagi 4-0-32-1

AS IT HAPPENED

Rajasthan won the toss and chose to bat. It was a huge plus for them as teams batting first have had the edge. Their batsmen proved the decision correct by putting on a very good score.

Robin Uthappa As Opener

Robin Uthappa opened in IPL after nearly 2 years. He opened with Stokes and took the onus to get his team off to a good start. He played quick, smashing four boundaries in a Sundar over. But Stokes failed to make an impact as an opener. Credit to Uthappa’s hitting, RR sat at 52-1 after the powerplay.

Chahal Puts Breaks as Samson Fails Again
Yuzi Chahal in the 8th over took 2 wickets in two balls, dismissing first Uthappa and then Samson. It was a rash shot by Samson, especially when they had lost a wicket of the previous ball. He went to smash a wide one by Chahal for six, only to hand Morris a sitter.

Smith Guides Rajasthan to 177

Smith played the anchor’s role and guided the innings perfectly. He started off cautiously and hit the big ones later. He scored 57 of 36.

Buttler To Finish and Stokes to Start?
RR has adopted a strange approach with the two Englishmen. A change of roles at such a crucial juncture in the tournament can backfire for RR. Buttler as an opener has been superb and Stokes is meant to finish innings.

Finch Fails Again
Aaron Finch hit a couple of cracking sixes in Archer’s over but couldn’t negate the leg-spin of Gopal. Apart from a scratchy 47 against KKR, Finch has failed to live up to the expectations. RCB had a decent start and were 47-1 after 6 overs.

Padikkal’s Struggle Had RCB in Trouble
Padikkal struggled to score with a good strike rate. He held his ground and built a partnership with the captain but failed to launch when needed. He scored 35 in 37 balls and left the RCB fans frustrated.

AB-SALUTE CARNAGE

AB De Villiers wreaked havoc in the 22 deliveries that he faced. He came into bat when RCB needed 76 of 7 overs. Kohli departed immediately on AB’s arrival, leaving the chase on AB’s shoulders.Good tight bowling by Tyagi and Gopal and Gurkeerat’s failure to strike the ball and to hand AB the strike allowed the required run rate to climb up. RCB now needed 35 from the last 2 overs. AB De Villiers put on his superman cape and smashed Unadkat for 3 consecutive sixes. 25 runs off the 19th over swung the game back in RCB’s corner. RCB Won By 7 wickets . De Villiers finished the game with a six and handed RCB 2 crucial points.

Rajasthan’s Reliance on Archer

Rajasthan relies probably a little too much on Archer to do the job in the death. Most would say that it should have been Archer bowling the 19th over. Unadkat has not proved to be a good ally for Archer in the death and that has caused RR serious troubles. Smith needs to put on his thinking cap with every game of RR now being a must-win game.

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