Published: May 21, 2015, 12:04 PM (IST)
Edited: May 21, 2015, 12:04 PM (IST)
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) beat Rajasthan Royals (RCB) by 71 runs in the first eliminator at Pune and ended their run in the Indian Premier League (IPL) this season. RCB will now play Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the second qualifier on Friday.
RCB won the toss and elected to bat first. They didn’t get a desirable start and later lost both their openers in quick succession. AB de Villiers and Mandeep Singh stuck to their guns and anchored the RCB innings at a brisk pace. De Villiers scored 66 off 38 balls, whereas Mandeep remained unbeaten on 54 off 34 deliveries, helping RCB post a huge total of 180 in their 20 overs.
RR was heavily reliant on Shane Watson to provide a solid start while chasing such a big total but it wasn’t to be as he floundered very early. RCB bowlers kept chipping wickets at regular intervals as a result of which RR never got into the game. Ajinkya Rahane fought hard for his 42 off 39 balls but didn’t get enough help form the other end. They lost the contest by a huge margin of 71 runs as they were all out for 109 in their 19 overs.
Turning Point: De Villiers and Mandeep managed to get 92 runs of the last seven overs of their innings, which was the most crucial phase of the match. RCB were 88 for two at the end of 13th over but managed to put a mammoth score of 180 on the board in their 20 overs.
Brief score:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 180 for four in 20 overs [AB de Villiers 66(38), Mandeep Singh 54(34); Dhawal Kulkarni 4-0-28-2, Chris Morris 4-0-42-1] beat Rajasthan Royals 109 all out in 19 overs [Ajinkya Rahane 42(39), Steven Smith 12(13); Sreenath Aravind 4-0-20-2, Harshal Patel 3-0-15-2]- by 71 runs.
