IPL 2018 : 3 Masterstrokes from RCB vs RR game

It was a Sunday encounter between the two most unpredictable teams, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. The second game at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore in this IPL promised to be a run fest as the Visitors posted the highest total of IPL 2018*.

Rajasthan Royals had a pretty good start to their innings as their captain Ajinkya Rahane stepped up and scored a fiery 36 runs’ knock in 20 balls. The team soon saw themselves in trouble as they lost both their openers but then Sanju Samson started the run-fest. The Kerala batsman scored a scintillating knock of 92 runs that helped the Rajasthan Royals to score a total of 217 runs in 20 overs.

Chasing a mammoth total, the home team had a good start as Virat Kohli scored his first half-century of the tournament but RCB soon had their last laugh as they lost both AB and Kohli in 3 overs. It was disappointing for the red army fans as their team from there was not able to make a comeback and lost the match by 19 runs. Here we look at the 3 masterstrokes from this match.

#1 Giving four consecutive overs to Shreyas Gopal

RCB were off to a poor start as they lost Brendon McCullum in the first over. D’Arcy Short soon took the wicket of Quinton De Kock as well. Now it was all up to the two best batsmen of the world. Virat Kohli and AB Devilliers were batting at that moment.

Everyone out there knew that if both of them or even one of them played till the end, RCB was easily winning the match. And the way Virat Kohli was batting, the match seemed to be in RCB’s pocket.

But then Ajinkya Rahane gave the ball to Shreyas Gopal and the rest, as they say, is history. Shreyas took the wicket of a dangerous Virat Kohli and then dismissed AB Devilliers in the last over of his spell. The backbone of RCB was back in the pavilion and the team from there kept losing wickets at regular intervals and lost the match by 19 runs.

#2 Giving the first over to a lesser-known Krishnappa Gowtham

Rajasthan Royals made their intentions clear on Krishnappa Gowtham in the IPL auctions itself as they shelled out a whopping Rs. 6.2 crores for him. The lad from Karnataka was surely going to be used as their player to watch out for.

The team management did exactly the same as they asked the Karnataka all-rounder to start the proceedings for their team. And Gowtham with the new ball didn’t disappoint his captain as he totally outcasted the great Brendon McCullum in the very first over of the innings.

RCB were chasing a mammoth total and what they needed was a great start from their openers but the dreams of the fans shattered as this gamble of giving the new ball to Gowtham by Ajinkya Rahane turned out to be a masterstroke.

#3 Rahane choosing to be aggressive ahead of Short

Royal Challengers Bangalore won the toss and elected to field first. Ajinkya Rahane and D’Arcy Short came out to bat for Rajasthan. Both Ajinkya Rahane, who is best known for his slow and steady game and D'Arcy Short who has a blistering strike rate of almost 150 in T20s were expected to do their respective jobs.

But the tables turned as Ajinkya Rahane took charge and scored 36 runs in 20 balls and gave a brilliant start to RR. The start was followed by a sensational finishing as Sanju Samson and Rahul Tripathi finished off the match on the score of 217 runs in 20 overs.