Rajasthan Royals, RR have been going through a decline in form in IPL 2024 during May month. They looked very timid before entering into IPL 2024 Playoffs. Many experts and even fans have anticipated them to lose to RCB who are on a roll. If RR lost 4 out of their 5 matches, last one being washed out, RCB won 6 matches to enter Playoffs.
Rajasthan Royals needed to once again find similar form like the start of their season to win the eliminator. They did the same to qualify for Qualifier 2 against SRH. They managed to chase down a mediocre yet troublesome target of 173 runs to register a 4-wicket win. While the match went through ebbs and flows, RR managed to cross the line with one over still in bank.
Earlier, Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field first. Virat Kohli(33) and Faf du Plessis(17) struggled against Trent Boult with moving ball in powerplay. The RCB openers went after Sandeep Sharma and Avesh Khan. But Boult sent back Faf and Cameron Green(27) also did not look quite comfortable. Yuzvendra Chahal went for runs but got Kohli. On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin has put breaks on RCB.
He dismissed Green and Maxwell in consecutive balls. Also, he restricted RCB batters and gave away 19 runs from 4 overs. Rajat Patidar(34), Mahipal Lomror(32) took them past 170 mark but finisher Dinesh Karthik failed despite a controversial LBW decision. RCB scored 172/8 in 20 overs and Rajasthan Royals started chase with 173 runs target.
Yashasvi Jaiswal gave a huge start with 45 runs from 30 balls. While Tom Kohler-Cadmore(20), Sanju Samson(17) did not have much impact, Riyan Parag(36) kept them in chase. Shimron Hetmyer(26) gave a hand while Rovman Powell(16) scored the required runs to win in the penultimate over. Rajasthan Royals won by 4 wickets after scoring 174/6 in 19 overs.
Ravichandran Ashwin got Player of the Match award with 2/19 bowling figures. Now, Rajasthan Royals play SRH on 24th May at Chennai. The team would be planning to take their revenge against SRH after the final ball loss that toppled their campaign in May month forcing them to end at 3rd position from table toppers.