In a closely-fought Eliminator contest, Ravichandran Ashwin (2 for 19) and Trent Boult (1 for 16) produced the telling bowling performances while Riyan Parag (36 off 26) stepped up with a crucial knock under pressure as Rajasthan Royals snapped out of their losing streak and halted RCB’s six-game winning run in the loser goes home contest. Ravichandran Ashwin proved his worth as an experienced campaigner when in the knockouts asserting pressure on RCB.
It wasn’t a coincidence that Trent Boult, Ravichandran Ashwin and Avesh Khan, RR’s best bowlers on the night, did the bulk of their bowling from the favorable end. Having won an important toss, the Royals produced an excellent bowling performance to keep a powerful RCB line-up down to 172. They suffered a mid-innings of their own but rubber-stamped their appearance in the second qualifier by getting home in the 19TH OVER. Ravichandran Ashwin 2 for 19 was the decisive factor in RR’s win.
Pitch and Toss
Different pitch to the Qualifier. 61 meters on one side, 68 on the other, and 73 down the ground. Very similar to the pitch yesterday. It’s quite dry, extremely firm, maybe has a bit more grass cover. Last night was in contrast to what the groundsmen had informed us that there wasn’t going to be dew. In my opinion it dramatically affected the game last night.
It’s currently 43 degrees. The water in this wicket is something the groundsmen have had to control because of the heat. Last night remember, early up, there was a little bit of seam movement and little bit of swing. Otherwise, this wicket was high scoring in the group stage.
RR Team skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and chose to bowl with Shimron Hetmyer in place of Donovan Ferreira. RCB team Faf Du Plessis winning 6 matches on the trot and batting first made no changes to his playing XI.
A Boult masterclass in the Powerplay restricts RCB.
By placing both his allowed outfielders on the leg-side, Trent Boult telegraphed his lines to RCB’s openers even before they took guard. And still they could take just six runs off his three PowerPlay overs. There was some swing as anticipated but he held his lengths brilliantly and allowed neither Kohli nor Faf du Plessis to get off the blocks quickly.
Kohli even unsuccessfully tried charging Boult to put the New Zealander off his lengths. In fact, the two batters did well to plunder 44 from the other three overs, bowled by Sandeep Sharma and Avesh Khan. There was reward on the wickets column for Boult after his early toils with Rovman Powell plucking an excellent catch at deep mid-wicket to dismiss du Plessis for 17. Thirteen of the 18 balls that Boult bowled in the PowerPlay were dots.
The game of two ends began early. Boult swung the new ball in an opening spell of three overs, and was inch-perfect with his lines and lengths: no room for the batters to free their arms, and no slot balls or long-hops. He conceded just six runs and two leg-byes in those three overs, and had du Plessis caught at deep midwicket to end an opening stand of 37.
At the other end, though, RCB clattered 42 in three overs. Virat Kohli, using his feet routinely to step out or make room, looked ominous while rushing to 30 off 19 by the end of the powerplay.
Ravichandran Ashwin strikes tighten RR’s hold in middle overs.
One of the underlying factors in Kohli’s strike-rate surge this season has been his willingness to take more risks, against spin and in the middle-overs. The slog-sweep has been his route out of the rut. He turned to it against Yuzvendra Chahal but didn’t find the required connection to clear the shorter legside boundary and was dismissed for a 24-ball 33.
While Chahal took the big wicket, it was his spin-partner R. Ashwin that bowled the most telling spell. Despite bowling predominantly to right-handers, he unfurled a bevy of carrom balls and stuck to a length that denied Cam Green and Rajat Patidar any opportunity to get under the ball for a big shot.
Ravichandran Ashwin was unlucky to not dismiss Patidar when Dhruv Jurel put down a simple catch but the wily spinner returned to dismiss the Australian pair of Green and Glenn Maxwell off successive balls.
Ravichandran Ashwin finished his four-over spell for figures of 2 for 19 without conceding a single boundary and the brilliance of his spell meant RCB didn’t have enough batters left to cash in on the dew that had begun to set in. Patidar was the lone bright spot in the phase for RCB but he fell to Avesh Khan for a 22-ball 34 trying and failing to clear mid-off against a hard-length ball.
Boult gave way to Ashwin from the end with the long leg-side boundary (for the right-hand batter), and that end continued to be hard to score off. Ravichandran Ashwin bowled beautifully, bowling at high pace – either into the pitch or right up at the batters’ feet – while offering no room, and primarily using his carrom and reverse-carrom variations against RCB’s right-hand batters.
But Ravichandran Ashwin was also aided by the end Ravichandran Ashwin bowled from, and the fact that his first two overs came soon after RCB had lost big wickets. Ravichandran Ashwin bowled the seventh over soon after Boult had taken out du Plessis, and the ninth immediately after Kohli had fallen to Yuzvendra Chahal.
Kohli’s slog-sweep has been one of the stories of IPL 2024. The shot, brought out of cold storage after many years, has allowed Kohli to overturn a long-standing issue of slow scoring against spin, and given him an extra gear through the middle overs. On this day, though, he was out to his first slog-sweep, caught on the midwicket boundary.
Ravichandran Ashwin, Avesh keep RCB in check to 172 in 20 overs
RCB kept playing their shots when they could attack the short leg-side boundary, and took Chahal for 13 in the tenth over and Avesh for 13 in the 12th. In between, Dhruv Jurel, running in from long-on, put down a sitter to reprieve Rajat Patidar when he miscued a big hit off Ashwin.
But Ravichandran Ashwin didn’t let RR worry about that miss for too long, inducing a mis-hit from Cameron Green in the 13th over – his fourth – and following up with the dismissal of Glenn Maxwell, who ended a lean season with the bat by attempting to hit his first ball for six and picking out long-on.
Chahal bowled another expensive over, conceding 19 in the 14th, and when Patidar hooked Avesh for six at the start of the 15th – it was RCB’s first boundary in an odd-numbered over – it looked as though a 190-ish total was possible. But Avesh got a shortish delivery to get big on Patidar next ball, and caused him to miscue to a backtracking mid-off fielder.
He could have had two in two, producing a perfect first-ball in ducker to have Dinesh Karthik adjudged lbw, only for the decision, reviewed by the batter, overturned when the third umpire seemed to mistake bat hitting pad for an inside edge on to pad.
Karthik remained scratchy while scoring 11 off 13 in what is likely his final innings at the senior level, Avesh eventually getting him with a hard-length leg cutter that climbed steeply on him in the 19th over. Mahipal Lomror gave RCB a bit of impetus towards the end with 32 off 17, which featured two leg-side sixes off Chahal, but their total of 172 seemed inadequate at the innings break.
Avesh should have had Dinesh Karthik out first ball but an LBW decision against the batter was reversed on DRS with the third umpire reading a spike on ‘Ultra Edge’ to be an inside edge when in fact, it appeared to be one generated by the impact of bat on pad. The fast bowler, who conceded 30 from his first two overs, came back admirably to take 3 for 14 from his final two overs.
This included the wicket of Karthik, sliced a hard-length ball and fell for 11 off 13. Avesh also dismissed Mahipal Lomror, who produced a bright 17-ball 32 including two fours and as many sixes. That meant, RCB didn’t get the finishing kick they will have wanted and fell eight short of the 180-mark.
Royals make steady beginning
There were two dropped chances early in the chase. The first was a difficult one – Green throwing himself to his right at slip and putting down an edge from Yashaswi Jaiswal in the third over – and the second a sitter – Maxwell shelling Tom Kohler-Cadmore at deep square-leg in the fifth. The two openers peppered the boundary either side of those misses – Yash Dayal particularly unfortunate to concede three fours to Jaiswal soon after having him dropped off his bowling – and RR ran to 45 for no loss by the end of the fifth.
Lockie Ferguson ended the powerplay with an excellent sixth over, conceding just two and bowling Kohler-Cadmore with a slower yorker. RR were still well on top, though, a fact they emphasized when Jaiswal and Sanju Samson took 17 runs – including a six and two fours, all towards the shorter boundary – off Swapnil Singh’s left-arm spin in the seventh over.
RCB began well with the first two overs bringing the Royals only six runs. The next 12 balls, from Yash Dayal and Mohammed Siraj, brought the chasers seven boundaries. Dayal gave away six boundaries in his first two overs but was unlucky to not have dismissed Tom Kohler-Cadmore with Glenn Maxwell putting down a simple chance at deep mid-wicket. Lockie Ferguson bowled the Englishman in the sixth over with an excellent leg-cutter but his and Jaiswal’s good start meant the Royals were in control.
RCB fight and stay in the game in the middle overs
If RCB had any hopes of making a match out of it, it had to be in the middle overs. Their early attempt to pile pressure however didn’t bear fruit as Swapnil Singh was taken for 17 runs in the seventh over. But RCB hit back well through the next two as Ferguson and Karn Sharma gave away just 16 cumulative runs. A fatigued Jaiswal then gloved Cameron Green to the ‘keeper to fall for 45.
RCB then doubled the pressure when Karn had Sanju Samson stumped in the 11th over. Green matched Ravichandran Ashwin’s efforts through the middle, his three overs in the phase going for just 11 runs. RCB also tightened up in the field with Kohli producing a moment of athletic brilliance to sprint, pick-up and throw from the deep to catch Dhruv Jurel short of his crease.
Royals stutter but complete the job in the 19th over
The Royals needed 47 off the final five overs and once Parag and Shimron Hetmyer hit a six each in a 17-run final over off Green, the writing was pretty much on the wall for RCB. They did well to fight back through a double-wicket over from Mohammed Siraj but Rovman Powell polished off the chase with two fours and a six off Ferguson.
Green came on in the tenth over and began to make a serious impact with his hard lengths, conceding just 11 runs in three overs while having Jaiswal caught behind while attempting a scoop. He also helped run Jurel out, fumbling a brilliant, one-bounce throw from Kohli in the deep but somehow managing to break the wicket with the ball still in contact with his hands.
At the other end, RR lost Samson, leaving his crease too early to be stumped off a deliberate off-side wide from Karn Sharma. At the end of the 14th over, Royals were four down and needed 58 off 36.
One big over would close that gap, and it came in the 16th, with Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag taking 17 off Green’s fourth. Then Hetmyer hit Dayal for a pair of fours in the 17th, bringing the equation down to 19 off 18. There was still time for one last twist, however, with Mohammed Siraj bowling Parag for 36 with a full, straight one that he played across, and finishing the over by inducing a miscue from Hetmyer.
It left Royals needing 13 from 12 with two new batters at the crease, and an unlikely RCB win was still on the cards. Rovman Powell, though, finished it off, finding a bit of luck early in the 19th with a pair of edged fours off Ferguson before completing the job with a stylish straight six.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Faf Du Plessis the losing skipper said : 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.
Sanju Samson the winning skipper said: What cricket and life has taught us is we will have some good and some really bad phases. But we need to have the character to bounce back. Really happy with the way we fielded, batted and bowled today.
Credit to the bowlers, they are always looking at what the opposition batters would do and what fields to set. Credit goes to Sanga and bowling coach Shane Bond as well. They’ve spent a lot of time in hotel rooms discussing these things.
Plus Ashwin and Boult are experienced lads. (On Parag and Jaiswal) They are 22 each, so is Jurel. With very little experience, the way they are performing at this level is amazing. (On his health) I’m not a 100% actually. There is a bug in the dressing room, lots of coughs and a lot of people are a bit unwell. (Going forward) Rovman finished that off well. I think we have a travel day and rest now, looking forward to the next game.
Ravichandran Ashwin Player of the Match for his impeccable bowling said : We haven’t done very well in the last few games. We didn’t put par scores and we lost Buttler, and Hetmyer was injured. Today’s win was important. We were a bit rusty chasing it, but this win will give us some confidence. In the first half, I felt my body wasn’t moving too well for the first half of the season.
I had an abdomen injury as well. I am aging as well. To come into the tournament from Test cricket was difficult, I needed some time to get that bowling rhythm. But once you have committed to your franchise, you want to go through with the season. I think we hit the right lengths, the way Boult was bowling, he got a bit of swing and seam movement.
In the second innings, I don’t think there was a lot of dew. I think there were some exceptional shots from our boys to get that chase. I think our greatest strength is the exuberance of youth and the experience we have got to support that. Now that Hettie is back in, and Rovman got a few boundaries today as well. We’ve got Keshav sitting outside. We have the right momentum for this team going forward.
It’s the hope that kills you. The murmured chants of ‘Ee Sala Cup Namde’ drown out into the neighboring Sabarmati river as RCB fans are forced to lick their wounds once again. Just like their season, this game saw them resurrect from the dead on multiple occasions, but ultimately their sloppy fielding early on came to cost them. Chasing a slightly sub par total of 173, Rajasthan got a decent start with Kohler-Cadmore and Jaiswal both getting runs.
Despite the Englishman’s wicket, Samson and Jaiswal stitched on a partnership and at a point RR were cantering to a win. However, an inspired spell from Cam Green, coupled with a needless Samson stumping and an electric run out from Virat Kohli made the game interesting. Rajasthan needed 58 off the final six, but Riyan Parag held his own to augment what has been a breakthrough season for him.
He took down Green for a six and a four, as Hetmyer played the perfect supporting role from the other end. Both batters couldn’t stay the course, but the equation was down to a run a ball, before Rovman Powell added the finishing touches.
So the RCB juggernaut has been quashed by the collective might of Rajasthan. The Royals shook off the cobwebs of four straight defeats as the team stepped up for this eliminator. Despite all his runs and electric fielding, Virat Kohli came up against a team where each person stepped up to do a role and collectively get their team over the line. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and the sum total of Rajasthan’s youthful exuberance coupled with their experienced campaigners ensure tha they fight on at Chepauk against SRH on Friday.