RR bottled a hat-trick of chases in this IPL. Never seen a team choking in the same way consistently as they lost the match by 11 runs. They have only one problem, which is stopping their victory, and they haven’t fixed it for the past 3 matches. They need to find some way by changing the batting order, reverse the roles, otherwise they will continue to suffer. Let’s look at the key reasons for RR‘s defeat.
RR top order’s fire form
RCB set the target of 206. RR batters knew it was a huge target, and the openers were aware of their weakness at the lower order. So, they went hard from ball one in the power play. Yashasvi Jaiswal attacked RCB’s best bowler, Josh Hazlewood, for 26 runs in his first 2 overs inside the powerplay.
Phil Salt got out in the second last ball of the powerplay and missed his 4th consecutive half-century by just 1 run. He got out for 49 runs off just 19 balls with a destructive strike rate of 258. RR were 72/2 after 6 overs. Nitish Rana and Riyan Parag carried the momentum, and both of them got decent starts, but failed to convert it into a big score.
The finishing duo of RR, Hetmyer, and Jurel were in the middle in the 14th over itself this time. Hetmyer disappointed as usual, but Jurel showed promise this time. Bhuvneshwar Kumar came to bowl the 18th over when RR needed 40 runs off 18 balls.
Dhruv Jurel and Shubam Dubey smashed him for 22 runs and turned the equation to 18 runs required off 12 balls. But the last 2 overs have been the problem for them in the past 2 matches. RR failed to chase 9 runs against DC as well as LSG in the last two matches.
Josh Hazlewood clutch player
Josh Hazlewood came to bowl after the disastrous over from Bhuvneshwar Kumar. He turned the game completely by giving just 1 run and picking 2 wickets, including the wicket of Dhruv Jurel, who was striking dangerously ( 47 off 34 ). He also gave just 6 runs in the 17th over and dismissed Hetmyer.
Overall, after going for 26 runs in his first two overs of powerplay, he came back really strongly in the death overs by giving just 7 runs and picking 3 wickets in his next two overs. He finished his spell with 4-33-4. He was awarded the M.O.M. award for his match-winning performance.
This was his first M.O.M award in IPL after 4 years.
Poor batting strategies by RR
RR did some batting blunders, which cost them the match. When Nitish Rana got out in the 14th over, they could have tried Wanindu Hasaranga ahead of Shimron Hetmyer due to a right hand. There was still one more over of Suyash Sharma and Krunal Pandya was left.
RR scored 20 runs in those overs, with Dhruv Jurel hitting a six in each. Hasaranga could have looked for one or two more boundaries in those overs. Hasaranga is a better hitter of spin bowling. He has done that in the Lanka Premier League.
When Dhruv Jurel got out in the 19th over, Jofra Archer came in and blindly slogged the next ball and was caught at covers. He could have tried to give a strike to Shubam Dubey, who had already hit a six in the previous over against Bhuvaneshwar Kumar.
Two back-to-back wickets, and Shubam Dubey didn’t get a strike in that over. This affected the momentum of his innings and the team as well. RR should try to use the batting ability of Hasaranga as well. He should be sent ahead of Jofra Archer at least.
Also Read:Â RCB vs RR : Virat Kohli Reveals The Strategy To Win Matches After Win Over RR