IPL 2019: Five talking points from RR’s win over RCB
Royal Challengers Bangalore succumbed to their fourth consecutive loss of the IPL 2019 as Rajasthan Royals cruised to a six-wicket win. Before this encounter, both the teams had lost their first three matches. RR finally registered a win for themselves while RCB remain at the bottom of the table. The match finished in the last over and here are five talking points from the game.
Parthiv Patel stands tall
It is no secret that RCB’s batting primarily relies on Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. However, this season, they have found a new mister consistent, it’s Parthiv Patel. The little batsman heads his team’s batting list with 138 runs in the first four matches. AB de Villiers at the second place trails by 45 runs. Parthiv showed his mettle with a stupendous performance in the inaugural match against CSK. Yesterday he top-scored with 67 and carried the team to 158/4.
The Googly problem
RCB, batting first, had a solid start and after the end of the Powerplay stood at 48/0. Rajasthan Royals brought the leg spinner Shreyas Gopal into the attack, and it changed the complexion of the game. Gopal bamboozled Kohli and bowled him on the third ball with a googly. He sent back ABD and Shimron Hetmyer in the next two overs. Gopal plucked all three wickets with googlies. The same bowler had dismissed Kohli and ABD last year.
Hetmyer in mire
In the 2019 IPL auction, RCB bought the Caribbean sensation, Shimron Hetmyer, for 4.2 crores. The youngster had shown his destructive batting skills in the Windies tour of India, and a similar performance was expected. However, Hetmyer has failed to fire in the IPL so far. From four outings, he has only 15 runs on his name. RCB Management will consider dropping him if such performances persist.
RCB find a new department to struggle in
Royal Challengers Bangalore were bundled for only 70 runs by Chennai Super Kings in the inaugural IPL 2019 match. Their batting failed against SRH as well where the team was all out for 113 runs. RCB’s bowling has always been under scrutiny and their penchant for conceding high totals is well known. However, in yesterday’s match, RCB also struggled in fielding. They dropped five catches and there were five misfields as well. Virat Kohli wasn’t free from the blemish either; he dropped Ajinkya Rahane at the second slip.
Rahul Tripathi’s promotion
In IPL 2017, Rising Pune Supergiants used Rahul Tripathi as an opener. The batsman enjoyed a good season and scored 391 runs in 14 matches. In 2018, he was bought by Rajasthan Royals, but the opportunities were limited. Even in this season, RR were slotting Tripathi in the lower-middle order. Against RCB yesterday, Tripathi batted at number four and handled the chase extremely well in the unbeaten knock of 34(23).
