Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain Faf du Plessis opens on the losing the Eliminator game against Rajasthan Royals feels they were 20 runs shy of what was a good score.
RCB who remained unbeaten in their last 6 league game failed to maintain the momentum in their most important game against Rajasthan Royals. In the most crucial game of Eliminator, RR trashed RCB by 4 wickets and knocked RCB out of the playoffs.
With the victory, Rajasthan Royals advanced to Qualifier 2 where they will face SRH which will decide the opponent of KKR in the grand final match.
During the post-match presentation, RCB captain Faf du Plessis with a broken heart faced the compere.
“With the dew coming, we felt we were short with the bat. Did think we were 20 runs shy of what was a good score. Credit to the boys – they fought really well. That’s all you can ask for.
If you look at naturally assessing the pitch and conditions, you would say it’s a 180 pitch because it was swinging upfront and was quite slow. But what we’ve found out this season, with the impact player, the par score isn’t enough any more. Also with the dew coming in.
Extremely proud. Lot of teams – their wheels would’ve fallen off after 1 from 9. To come back like that, six games in a row, takes a lot of heart and character. We weren’t special tonight in terms of pushing that extra 20 runs with the bat”, RCB captain Faf du Plessis said.
Batting first, Royal Challengers Bengaluru made a struggling start by adding 37 runs for the first wicket. Following the skipper’s dismissal, Virat Kohli too lost his wicket for 33 runs while RCB scored 56 runs.
Though Green and Patidar made a 41-run stand, their partnership was broken by Ashwin. In the very next delivery, Ashwin dismissed form out Maxwell and drastically changed the game flow.
With Lomror’s 32 off 17 deliveries, RCB scored 172 runs for 8 wickets loss at the end of 20 overs.
Chasing the 170-plus target, RR was expected to make a struggling start without their inform opener Jos Buttler. But Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tom Kohler-Cadmore made a steady opening by scoring 46 runs for the first wicket.
Jaiswal’s 45 off 30 deliveries made RR settle in a better position but RCB bowlers dismissed Jaiswal and Samson in back-to-back overs and stirred RR’s settled camp.
Riyan Parag took the responsibilities on his shoulders, scored a crucial 36 and helped his team to get back in the game. Rovman Powell with his 8 balls 16 made Rajasthan Royals to reach the target with an over left.
With the victory, RR advanced to Qualifier 2 which will be played against Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 24 in MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
