Virat Kohli: We were in a great position at one stage but the way we were bundled out wasn’t ideal. AB was batting beautifully, the decision-making of the others was poor. We wanted to strengthen our middle order, it is something we need to look forward to over the next year and beyond.

Scoring and stress in the middle order can’t always be on a guy like AB. Others around him just didn’t show enough composure. Quite a few positives: Umesh was outstanding, Chahal was good, Siraj took his opportunities, Moeen grabbed his chances and gave us the balance. Disappointed to not finish this off after we were cruising, just to see the way it unfolded after that hurts.

RCB exit, Rajasthan alive in playoff race
What a win for Rajasthan in their fortress. Bangalore suffered an extraordinary collapse after they seemed to be within touching distance of a win at one stage. Rajasthan have moved up to fourth spot but that is subject to change depending on Mumbai and Punjab’s results.

RCB WIN BY 30 RUNS

WICKET! RCB 134 all out after 19.2 Overs

WICKET! RCB 128/9 after 18 Overs
Southee holes out in the deep trying to smash Unadkat out of the park. Safe catch by Gowtham at long on and it’s all coming to a tragic end for RCB.
T Southee c Gowtham b Unadkat 14 (17)

WICKET! RCB 108/8 after 15.2 Overs
What a yorker! RR have RCB on the mat with a peach of a yorker to Umesh Yadav. The middle stump is uprooted and the home side is running away with it. Kohli is wearing a look of horror watching his side capitulate this way.
U Yadav b Laughlin 0 (1)

WICKET! RCB 108/7 after 15.1 Overs
The game is slowly slipping away. Sarfaraz tries to run the ball down to third man and Klaasen gets his fourth dismissal by hanging on to a fine one-handed catch.
S Khan st Klaasen b Laughlin 7 (8)

WICKET! RCB 98/6 after 12 Overs
There goes the big fish! De Villiers is beaten in the turn and his back leg is out of the crease. Klaasen picks it up and whips the bails off in a flash. RCB’s hopes are fading. What a turnaround this has been! Outstanding stuff from Gopal. Third stumping for Klaasen.
AB de Villiers st Klaasen b Gopal 53 (35)

WICKET! RCB 96/5 after 12 Overs
Everything is going Rajasthan’s way. De Grandhomme is beaten in the googly, drives and the ball flies to Rahane at first slip. The Rajasthan skipper takes a magnificent catch. Kohli wears a frown in the dugout.
De Grandhomme c Rahane b Sodhi 2 (3)

WICKET! RCB 85/4 after 10.3 Overs
They are falling like nine pins and Gopal gets his third. Mandeep skips down the track to go for a massive heave over cover, misses and Klaasen earns another stumping to his name.
Mandeep Singh st Klaasen b Gopal 3 (4)

WICKET! RCB 77/3 after 9 Overs
Another soft dismissal! Moeen Ali plays a lazy chip and the alert Gopal jumps high and clings on to the ball. The momentum has shifted and how.
Moeen Ali c & b Gopal 1 (2)

WICKET! RCB 75/2 after 8.3 Overs
Soft dismissal for RCB after Parthiv misses a pull shot off Gopal and loses his balance and couldn’t drag his back leg behind the line. Good awareness shown by Klaasen to remove the bails in a flash
P Patel st Klaasen b Gopal 33 (21)

RCB 74/1 after 8 Overs

Ish Sodhi is also taken to the cleaners as Parthiv literally cuts loose. The southpaw has been severe on any width that was on offer. Ten came off the leg-spinner’s first over.

RCB 55/1 after 6 Overs
Dropped! Sanju Samson nearly took another blinder in the deep but Parthiv Patel got a boundary off it. The fielder had done remarkably well to get to the ball with a full-length leap but just couldn’t hold on to the ball. Unadkat then over-pitched in the fifth ball of the over and was thumped through the cover region for another boundary.

RCB 45/1 after 5 Overs
The De Villiers show continues as he hits one more boundary, this time off Laughlin. Parthiv Patel ends the over with another streaky boundary, yet again in the third man region. Ten from the over.

RCB 35/1 after 4 Overs
Archer is struggling and De Villiers hammers him for three boundaries in the over. He played a gorgeous cover drive, a cut, and a stunning pull shot to end the over. RCB are flying.

WICKET! RCB 20/1 after 2.5 Overs
Huge breakthrough for Rajasthan as Kohli departs trying to step out to Gowtham. He plays across the line, misses and sees his off stump removed.
V Kohli b Gowtham 4 (9)

RCB 16/0 after 2 Overs
Outstanding batting from Parthiv as he takes Archer to the cleaners with two sixes using the pace off the ball. Two excellent ramp shots and RCB are up and away. Both deliveries had little width on offer.

RCB 2/0 after 1 Over
Fine start by Gowtham as Virat Kohli was repeatedly beaten by a slew of deliveries that offered little turn. Klaasen was a busy man behind the wickets. Kohli and Parthiv Patel are off the mark.

RR 164/5 after 20 Overs

Fine finish by Krishnappa Gowtham! Southee went full and was hammered for back to back sixes. The New Zealand pacer, though, pulled things back with a couple of dot balls towards the end and effecting a run out in the last ball of the innings.
K Gowtham Run out 14 (5)

WICKET! RR 149/4 after 19 Overs
Fine comeback by Siraj! Klaasen had struck a six and a boundary but the bowler fought back well and deceived the batsman with a slower delivery. The ball went only as far as Moeen Ali at long off.
H Klaasen c Ali b Siraj 32 (21)

RR 136/3 after 18 Overs
RCB have pulled things nicely over the last couple of overs. Rajasthan’s struggle for boundaries continue. Klaasen needs to step on the pedal soon.

RR 124/3 after 16 Overs
Tripathi is in fine form and his six off Moeen Ali – a lofted drive over the top – was a thing of beauty. Klaasen is also up and away with a couple of boundaries. Still, a long way away from getting to a formidable score.

RR 104/3 after 14 Overs
Umesh had Klaasen too with a peach of a reverse-swinging yorker...almost. The South African took a quick review and replays showed that the ball had clipped the bat before crashing on to his pad. Decision overturned.

WICKET! RR 101/3 after 13.2 Overs
Oh Samson, what have you done? A lazy chip from the batsman only goes as far Moeen Ali at short mid-wicket. Umesh Yadav is on fire.
S Samson c Ali b U Yadav 0 (1)

WICKET! RR 101/2 after 13.1 Overs
Much needed breakthrough for Bangalore. Rahane misses his pull shot and is trapped leg-before off Umesh. Rahane took the review but that ball was crashing onto off.
A Rahane lbw b U Yadav 33 (31)

RR 101/1 after 13 Overs
As we think Rahane and Tripathi were getting bogged down, the latter shifts gears by stepping out and getting a couple of boundaries. Chahal had the batsman’s number with a sharp leg spinner but there were no slips in place.

RR 80/1 after 11 Overs
The run-rate continues to be steady and Rajasthan need to take it up a notch from here. The runs have been coming in singles and twos. De Grandhomme bowled a wretched first over and the partnership is hovering has moved to 78 from 59 balls.

RR 63/1 after 9 Overs
Tripathi is in such solid touch and he continues to get the odd boundary to energize proceedings. Here, he lofts over cover to earn another four. Rahane has gone off the boil somewhat.

RR 50/1 after 7 Overs
Quality risk-free cricket played by Rahane and Tripathi and the runs are coming thick and fast. Southee continues to struggle with his lengths, straying down the leg repeatedly.

RR 35/1 after 5 Overs
More bad bowling from RCB, this time from Southee. The bowlers continue to stray down leg time and again. Rahane punishes the Kiwi by pulling in front of square. Ten runs came from the over.

RR 25/1 after 4 Overs
Rahane is up and away with a couple of gorgeous boundaries – one through the covers and another chipped back over the bowler’s head. Then, Tripathi ends the over with another boundary with a pull shot to cow cover. Finally, Rajasthan are building some momentum.

RR 12/1 after 3 Overs
SIX! Finally, Rajasthan are up and away as Tripathi sweeps one from outside off-stump over the boundary ropes at long leg off Moeen Ali. There is a loud appeal in the last ball of the over for a leg-before but umpire Erasmus turns it down.

WICKET! RR 2/1 after 1.4 Over
And...the move backfires. Archer chases after a wide delivery down the leg side and gets a nick. Parthiv Patel behind the stumps holds onto it and the umpire’s finger goes up.
J Archer c Patel b U Yadav 0 (4)

RR 2/0 after 1 Over
Fine start by Chahal, earning five dot balls in a row. AB de Villiers’s magic on the field was on display once again with an effortless pick up with his wrong hand at long off in the first ball of the match – the ball was travelling quickly there.

What’s happening here? Jofra Archer opens the batting with Rahul Tripathi. Chahal has the ball in his hand.

Lineups:

RCB: Parthiv Patel (wk), Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Moeen Ali, Colin de Grandhomme, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

RR: Rahul Tripathi, Ajinkya Rahane (c), Sanju Samson, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), K Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Stuart Binny, Jofra Archer, Ben Laughlin, Ish Sodhi, Jaydev Unadkat

TOSS: RAJASTHAN ROYALS TO BAT FIRST. RCB to field an unchanged team from their previous game. Shreyas Gopal comes in, Laughlin and Klaasen replace Stokes and Buttler who have left for international duty.

“Dry, devoid of grass and it will be difficult for the teams to generate pace,” says Graeme Smith in his pitch report. “The team winning the toss will opt to bat first and post a big total.”

Head to Head
Overall: Matches: 17, RR won: 8, RCB won: 8, No Result: 1.
In Jaipur: Matches: 5, RR won: 2, RCB won: 3

Weakened by the departure of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, Rajasthan Royals will have their task cut out when they lock horns with a resurgent Royal Challengers Bangalore, in the Indian Premier League on Saturday.

The game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium is crucial for both RR and RCB, placed fifth and sixth in the table respectively.

As the race for playoffs heats up, five teams are in with a chance to make the cut.

Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad are already through to the playoffs, leaving RR, RCB, Kings XI Punjab, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders to fight for the remaining two places.