Rajasthan Royals ended the dream run of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2024 Eliminator on Wednesday to book a date with the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Qualifier 2 on Friday to decide who will play Kolkata Knight Riders in Sunday's final in Chennai. (Scorecard | As It Happened)
A collective bowling performance followed by crucial knocks from Yashasvi Jaiswal (45), Riyan Parag (36) and a returning Shimron Hetmyer (26) helped RR chase down the target of 172 in 19 overs and win the game by four wickets.
Jaiswal had put the Royals on the frontfoot early in the innings despite his opening partner Tom Kohler-Cadmore (20) struggling on one end.
Lockie Ferguson put Kohler-Cadmore's innings to rest with a beautiful slower yorker to give RCB their first wicket in the last over of the powerplay.
Wickets of Jaiswal and skipper Samson in within four balls of each other had given RCB a glimmer of hope.
The hopes were further driven up by a sensational piece of fielding from Virat Kohli whose throw from the deep resulted in Dhruv Jurel's wicket.
Just when it looked like things could go wrong for RR, their crisis man Shimron Hetmyer and their best batter this season Riyan Parag combined for a 45-run stand in just 25 balls to kill RCB's hopes.
Mohammed Siraj dismissed both in the 18th over but by then it was too late. Rovman Powell hit the winning six on the last ball of the 19th over to knock RCB out of the tournament.
Earlier, Samson won the toss and invited RCB to bat first.
RCB entered the match on a six-match winning streak while RR came into the game on the back of 5 matches without a win.
Opening the bowling for RR, Trent Boult (16/1) bowled a fantastic new ball spell giving away just six runs in his three powerplay overs and taking the wicket of opposition skipper Faf du Plessis (17).
However, runs from the other bowling end meant despite a Boult masterclass, RCB had gathered 50 runs in the first six overs. Virat Kohli (33) was looking set for another big one until Yuzvendra Chahal (43/1) dismissed him in the seventh over.
Cameron Green (23), who was promoted to three, was then joined by Rajat Patidar. The duo put up a 41-run stand for the third wicket before R Ashwin got the better of Green on the third ball of the 13th over.
Glenn Maxwell’s poor form continued as he was dismissed on the very next ball and R Ashwin finished with a brilliant spell of 19/2 in his four overs.
Patidar (34) got a few big hits before Avesh Khan had him in the 14th over. Khan then struck twice in his last over to finish with three wickets.
Mahipal Lomror’s 17-ball 32 towards the end had eventually taken RCB to 172/8. Ultimately, the score was not enough and RCB have been knocked out of IPL 2024.
