Rajasthan Royals (RR) batters endured a rare off day in the Indian Premier League (IPL) after Sanju Samson and Co suffered a 112-run defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Jaipur on Sunday.
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For RR, it was a batting collapse like they had never seen before. Well, almost. Chasing a target of 172 which Sanju Samson said “could have gone to the wire”, RR collapsed to 59 off just 10.3 overs.
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But this was not the first time they were all out for 59 or less. In Cape Town in 2009, against the same opponents (RCB), RR were bundled out for 58 in 15.1 overs. Talk about déjà vu!
Yashasvi Jaiswal (0), Jos Buttler (0) and Sanju Samson (4) looked off colour. There was just one batter who scored more than 30 (Shimron Hetmyer, 35), and one more batter who had reached the double-figure mark (Joe Root, 10). Needless to say, the RR batting order looked awfully weak, and if their recent mixed run of fortunes are to go by, this is one result that RR would like to forget.
So, how did RR collapse?
Mohammed Siraj opened RCB’s bowling attack after fifties from Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell had led RCB to 171/5.
Yashasvi Jaiswal being dismissed for nought is not something you see everyday. Same with the case of Jos Buttler. In the second ball of the first over, an overpitched delivery from Siraj forced Jaiswal to smash it straight to mid-off. Virat Kohli, the fielder stationed there, took a sharp catch to dismiss Jaiswal.
Matters turned from bad to worse for RR after Wayne Parnell (3/10), the eventual Player of the Match winner, came to the party. Parnell’s delivery had a bit of width on offer, and Jos Buttler slapped it a bit uppishly to Mohammed Siraj at cover point. Buttler, gone for a duck. RR 6/2.
It did not take too long for Parnell to strike, as he struck once again in the second over. In the fourth ball, Parnell unleashed a short delivery, and Sanju Samson the batter looked to heave, only to get a top edge that flew to Anuj Rawat, who took a fine, clean catch.
Parnell already had two wickets in one over and by the end of the powerplay, RR were 28/5. Their highest partnership on a forgettable day was 19 between R Ashwin and Shimron Hetmyer for the seventh wicket. That was probably the last chance salon for RR in effectively saving the match or at least providing a glimmer of hope, but well, sometimes things don’t go the way you anticipate it.
Once again, Parnell struck. And once again in the powerplay. In the third ball of the sixth over, Parnell struck Joe Root lbw. It was a slower ball from Parnell, who came round the wicket and Root was beaten trying to flick across the line. He went for the review, but hawkeye showed the impact was in line, and the ball was crashing into the leg stump.
Samson felt that RR missed out on making good use of the powerplay. After the match, Samson was of the opinion that had they enjoyed a productive powerplay, the script would have been different altogether.
“I think this was a target that could have gone to the wire, I expected a tight match if we had a decent powerplay. I was just thinking seeing the batting collapse where we went wrong? I don’t think I have an answer to that yet,” said Samson, who urged his team to take responsibility for the defeat.
A defeat like this for any team could be immensely demoralizing and be left with lots to ponder. But for RR, who are in a tricky position after the defeat, it’s important to forget it already as if it being a thing of the past and look ahead for their last game against Punjab Kings, irrespective of what happens.
RCB still in the playoffs race, maybe just
For RCB, the win would finally bring smiles after two consecutive losses, but they are not out of the woods just yet. It still feels like there is a lot more to be played in the league stage for certain teams, and maybe that’s what the points table indicates. There is tough competition between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) (15 points, Mumbai Indians (14) and Lucknow Super Giants (13), and RCB are just behind Lucknow in fifth place with 12 points.
RCB are in such a situation that not even two wins off the last two matches can guarantee a spot in the playoffs, especially when there is RR and Punjab Kings (PBKS) playing catch up.
Even if RCB manage to win the next two matches, and even if they win those by big margins, only time, and Net Run Rate, will determine their fate of progressing to the next stage.
For now, the minds of Faf du Plessis and Co should not be on the points table, but instead on putting their best foot forward and get those two wins. Who knows, as Faf du Plessis pointed out in the post-match interview, it is the confidence that will be crucial for RCB if they are going to pull it off in the last two matches.
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