Curtains down - RCB remain winless
That's four losses in four for the Bangalore franchise as Rahul Tripathi quashes any hopes of a Super Over when RR needed 1 off the last two balls with a pull shot that soared for a six. RR have picked their first two points and RCB are left pinged to the bottom of the table. Next up for them? A home game against the Andre Russell-fuelled RCB - good luck to that bowling attack! Two days later, Rajasthan Royals will host KKR.
That's all for now, ciao!
RR in 19 overs - in 19 overs - Need 5 off 6 balls
Steve Smith falls off the last ball of the 19th over, for a 31-ball 38. And now the Stokes-Tripathi combo needs to get five off the last six balls.Surely this game is already done?
RR 147/2 in 17 overs - Need 18 off 18 balls
A 16-run over has completely tipped the scales in RR's favour. The required rate is down to just run-a-ball. Unlikely for RR to botch this up from here...
RR 125/2 in 16 overs - Need 34 off 24 balls
Chahal's four overs are done with figures of 2 for 17. He's conceded just two runs in his final over RCB's headaches begin now. Who bowls the last four overs with only 34 to get. Siraj has the ball for the 17th over...can he spark a late, late comeback?
Chahal strikes again...
I spoke too soon about watching Buttler at the non-striker's end. It's taken a teasing delivery tossed up outside the off-stump to get the Englishman to miscue a big him. He goes back for a 43-ball 59. Can RCB do a KXIP and sneak back in very late in dramatic fashion?
Jos Buttler gets another half-century...
The Englishman is on fire at the moment. You know what this means, don't you? Bowlers need to start observing his movements....at the non-striker's end.
RR cruising...
10 overs are up and RR already have more than half of their target in their kitty (80/1). It's only just about more than half, but that's enough for now as a base.
WICKET - Chahal strikes!
Spin comes on and there's a wicket straightaway. Kohli and RCB could've been better served getting this before the partnership blossomed. Anyway, they've got the wicket now as Rahane didn't pick the googly. He rocked back inside the crease in the hope to cut a length-ish ball away but Chahal had unfurled a googly that turned in and struck the pad in line. Rahane considered reviewing it but decided against - and wisely so. RR 60/1
Rajasthan Royals 55/0 in 6 overs
Prelude - The scramble for first points
Almost 10 days into the season, two teams that have started the slowest have reached a juncture where they can finally be a little optimistic. This is the game, where they can say with surety, that one of them is finally going to open their account this year. Rajasthan Royals started off in promising fashion until they got foxed by a Ravichandran Ashwin Mankad in the first game. Then SRH smashed them in a big chase before they were out-tactic'd by MS Dhoni's CSK on a ground dripping with dew. It wouldn't be too wrong to say they could've and should've taken some, if not all, points of the available six.
Ajinkya Rahane is hoping to win 'small moments' and have some rub of the green goes his way as they host their fellow luck-less side, RCB.
Virat Kohli's team has glamour, but where's the substance when you need it? Kohli and AB de Villiers is the finest pair that you could put together on a cricket field, but T20, unfortunately, needs a lot more thought going into entire team combinations. They need a lot of sorting out, specially after the absolute schooling they got at the hands of SRH to emerge from the current ruins they find themselves in - an NRR of -2.413.
Can the Aussies save Kohli's sinking ship?
RCB will welcome Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Coulter-Nile into the squad after they finished their recent national assignment. And will have a few decision to make. If both are available to play right away, without having to grapple with jet lag, then they should both definitely be in, for Moeen Ali and Colin de Grandhomme. RCB can fill the void left by Moeen the bowler with the likes of Washington Sundar and Pawan Negi, who can also bat a bit.
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