IPL 11, RCB vs RR as it happened: Rajasthan beat Bangalore by 19 runs in high-scoring encounter

As it happened

“I’m grateful to play this tournament every two months of the year. I’m feeling good, hitting the ball well, but the tournament has just started. I want to win as many matches as I can on the field.” - MoM Sanju Samson.

“We were looking to score 160-170, but the way Sanju and Jos batted was incredible.” -Rajasthan Royals captain Ajinkya Rahane.

Rajasthan Royals is the only team to have defended a total so far in the tournament. They have now done it twice in as many games.

RR WIN BY 19 RUNS Wonderful chase from Bangalore, who end at 198/6 at end of the innings. Who knows, the final over from Umesh Yadav turned out to be the difference between the two. Two wins after batting first for Rajasthan, who are bucking a trend.

RCB 182/6 in 18.5 Overs OUT! Washington’s breezy knock comes to and. He looks for a paddle down to third-man but played it onto his stumps. It was an entertaining cameo from the 18-year-old.
Washington Sundar b Stokes 35 (19)

RCB 170/5 in 18 Overs Washington showing his prowess with the bat too. He has brought up a couple of sixes. Mandeep is also giving a good account of himself in the middle. The big overs keep on coming but the match is now mathematically almost out of reach for Rajasthan.

RCB 140/5 in 16 Overs Rajasthan have it under control now. Bangalore now need....hold your breath: 78 from 24 balls. Mandeep and Washington are finding the boundaries hard to come by. Another half-decent over should seal the deal for the away side.

OUT! RCB 126/5 in 14.1 Overs Negi gets an outside edge and Buttler’s miserable evening behind the stumps gets some respite after he takes a fine take on the dive. Laughlin gets the breakthrough.
P Negi c Buttler b Laughlin 3 (4)

OUT! RCB 114/4 in 12.3 Overs Another big one goes and this time it’s AB. Gopal gets the breakthrough once again as he goes for a sweep. Unadkat at fine-leg takes a magnificent diving catch, lunging forward. Rajasthan in control.
AB de Villiers c Unadkat b Gopal 20 (18)

RCB 101/3 in 10.2 Overs OUT! Kohli goes and it’s a massive blow for Bangalore. Gopal effects the breakthrough with a delivery that was on the shorter side. Kohli still went for the pull but Short at deep mid-wicket takes a smart catch, once again, jumping and pouching it to perfection.
Kohli c Short b Gopal 57 (30)

RCB 100/2 in 10 Overs Big run-out opportunity goes begging! De Villiers was half-way down the pitch after a mix-up with Kohli. Buttler’s nightmare behind the stumps continues as he fails to collect the ball. The last ball from Laughlin disappears for a six from AB’s blade.

RCB 91/2 in 9 Overs So much drama. Kohli gets to his fastest IPL fifty, which comes from just 26 balls. Buttler then misses a stumping off De Villiers of all people. Kohli ends the over by rubbing salt in his wounds by pulling Gopal for a six.

RCB 81/2 in 8 Overs OUT! Short strikes. A tame end to De Kock’s innings as he pulls it straight the throat of Unadkat at fine-leg. Wicket from an unexpected source for Rajasthan.
Q De Kock c Unadkat b D’Arcy Short 26 (18)

RCB 71/1 in 7 Overs DROPPED! That was the chance Rajasthan needed and Jos Buttler cannot hold on to the edge that came off De Kock’s blade. Kohli continues to get boundaries, though. Seven from that Shreyas Gopal over and the Bangalore skipper has breezed to 41 from just 22 balls.

RCB 64/1 in 6 Overs Rajasthan simply cannot catch a break. Stokes also disappears for runs – which includes two boundaries – and Kohli continues his extraordinary onslaught. 15 from the over. Rahane has a lot of reasons to worry, especially with AB de Villiers still yet to arrive at the crease.

RCB 49/1 in 5 Overs De Kock is not far behind and is early to judge the length of the bowler. Gowtham is driven and swept for two boundaries. Bangalore are cruising.

RCB 38/1 in 4 Overs Now, De Kock also deals in boundaries and shows a perfect straight bat against Unadkat. Back-to-back boundaries and a a couple of singles to end the over. The run-fest continues.

RCB 19/1 in 2 Overs Virat Kohli’s class at work here. Dhawal Kulkarni, who has a fine record against Kohli, faces the full brunt of the Bangalore captain’s wrath and is at home be it the drive, flick or the pull shot. Three boundaries from the over and Bangalore have some momentum. They need several big overs to be in the hunt.

RCB 4/1 in 0.4 Overs OUT! What a start for Rajasthan. Bangalore needed McCullum to fire on all cylinders but his stay ends on a whimper. Stokes times his jump to perfection and pulls off a brilliant catch at deep mid-wicket
B McCullum c Stokes Gowtham 4 (4)

Samson finished with 10 sixes during his 45-ball stay at the crease. He also earns the purple cap and has a 178 runs to his name in three games. Samson attributed his fitness and eagerness to improve as the reasons for his good form.

RR 217/4 in 19 Overs 27 runs from the over! Oh dear. It was a nightmare of an over for Umesh Yadav, which included a no-ball. Samson’s six-hitting continued and once again, they kept on disappearing from his arc. Tripathi also joined it with a valuable cameo, cracking a couple of huge sixes down the ground. Incredible batting from RR, who have made a strong case for winning after being put to bat once again. Kohli is not pleased as his team walk back. Bangalore have to script a record chase to win this.

RR 190/4 in 19 Overs The Samson show continues. 15 runs from the last four balls and this is magnificent batting. Believe it or not, he just brought up his fourth boundary but the six-hitting continues. Woakes, once again, was thumped straight down the ground. Kohli’s woes continue.

RR 175/4 in 18.2 Overs OUT! There goes number four. Tame end to Buttler’s stay, chipping it straight to Kohli at mid-off. The Bangalore captain lets off a cold stare after the dismissal, expressing his displeasure at the way things have gone for his team so far.
J Buttler c Kohli b Woakes 23 (14)

RR 173/3 in 18 Overs SAMSON cleans up RCB. There is simply no stopping the 23-year-old. If you miss your lengths, you will be hammered. Khejroliya found out the hard way, and was hammered for two magnificent sixes towards the end of the over. The second one went into the top tier.

RR 157/3 in 17 Overs RAJASTHAN ON FIRE! The big hits keep on coming as Woakes misses is length marginally and is belted over the ropes twice. First, Samson goes over cow cover and brings up his fifty with a single. The last ball of the over sees Woakes disappearing over the ropes from compatriot Buttler.

RR 142/3 in 16 Overs SIX Samson is into his forties once again and cracks a thumping six off Umesh Yadav to the deep square-leg boundary. Runs are coming at a fair clip. If Buttler settles in, we might be looking at a score around 200. Interesting last few overs coming up.

RR 112/3 in 13 Overs What a start for Buttler! Jaw-dropping start for the Englishman as he reverse-sweeps Chahal to the fence, first ball. There was four byes too and it looks like the run-scoring is going to kick into fifth gear soon.

RR 102/3 in 12.2 Overs OUT! Oh dear. Stokes goes going for a wild swing on the leg side off Chahal. The ball clips his bottom edge and crashes onto the stumps. Much needed breakthrough for Bangalore.
B Stokes b Chahal 27 (21)

RR 101/2 in 12 Overs 15 runs from the over. The partnership is nearing fifty and Stokes launches into Khejroliya, whipping it on the leg side for a maximum. He also gets a boundary behind point before a wonderful stop from Woakes at fine-leg saves two runs for the latter’s side.

RR 86/2 in 11 Overs SIX! Stokes is still biding his time at the crease but Samson goes after Washington, effortlessly hammering him to the second tier, down the ground. It’s been a fine start for Rajasthan after the break. Washington finishes with figures of 4-0-30-0.

RR 68/2 in 9 Overs Washington completes his third over and has been economical as ever. The scoring rate has dropped following Rahane’s wicket. Stokes is making room and looking for the elusive big hit that will get him going. Samson too, is not taking risks at this stage and looks content on rotating the strike.

OUT! RR 53/2 in 6.5 Overs D’Arcy Short goes! Yet another forgettable outing for the big-hitting Australian, who was under severe pressure after failing to get an attacking rhythm going. He tries to cut Chahal and nicks it to De Kock.
D’Arcy Short c De Kock b Chahal 11 (17)

OUT! RR 49/1 in 5.4 Overs Rahane goes for one big shot too many and departs. It was welcome change to see the batsman play in a tempo we have not seen much in recent times. Woakes gets the breakthrough as Rahane doesn’t get the distance. Umesh Yadav at mid-on makes no mistake.
A Rahane c U Yadav b Woakes 36 (20)

RR 43/0 in 5 Overs More Rahane magic, Short up and away. Chahal was brought on and Rahane went after him straight away, bringing up his fifth boundary. D’Arcy Short, for whom the run outs have taken a toll on his fluency, finds luck going straight down the ground. He gets his first boundary on the board.

RR 22/0 in 3 Overs Rahane picks up momentum! Reverse sweep, regular boundaries...well, we are seeing a different Rahane here, who is leading from the front. He goes after Washington, targeting the leg side boundary and gets a six and a four. Looks like he has recovered from his injury quickly.

RR 10/0 in 2.2 Overs Ajinkya Rahane in trouble. The Rajasthan skipper pulled a hamstring while going for a run and is clearly struggling. The medical staff rush in for treatment. This could be a huge blow. Let’s hope it’s nothing serious.

RR 1/0 in 1 Over Excellent start from Washington Sundar! Rahane makes his intentions clear by using the reverse sweep straight away. He steps down the track in the second and gets off strike. No risks from D’Arcy Short, who is on a hat-trick of run outs.

Interestingly, RR happen to be the only team who have won batting first so far.

Rohit Sharma full of praise for his opponents after his team succumbed to their second consecutive last-ball loss yesterday.

Do you think MSD could have added to our gold rush at Gold Coast?

Lineups:

RCB: McCullum, De Kock, Kohli, De Villiers, Mandeep, Washington, Woakes, Negi, Chahal, Khejroliya, Umesh.

RR: Rahane, Short, Stokes, Buttler, Tripathi, Gowtham, Samson, Gopal, Laughlin, Dhawal, Unadkat.

Toss: Royal Challengers Bangalore win toss and opt to field first. Pawan Negi comes in for Sarfaraz Khan for the home side. Ajinkya Rahane and Co are unchanged from their win against Delhi Daredevils.

Did You Know: AB de Villiers averages 48.50 against the Rajasthan Royals. Virat Kohli, meanwhile, averages 19.85, his lowest against any team in the IPL.

Head to Head
Overall: M: 16, RCB won: 8, RR won: 7, No Result: 1.
At M Chinnaswamy Stadium: M: 6, RCB won: 2, RR won: 3, No Result: 1.

A keen contest is on the cards as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals cross swords in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday.

RCB are placed fifth and RR sixth on the points table with two points each from two matches.

They both lost their respective openers against Kolkata Knight Riders and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

RCB notched up their first victory of the season, riding on South African star AB de Villiers’ brilliant half-century to beat Kings XI Punjab by four wickets.

RR celebrated their return to the ‘fortress’ Sawai Mansingh Stadium with a 10-run win over Delhi Daredevils in the rain-hit match, getting past a revised target of 71 runs in six overs as per the Duckworth/Lewis method.