IPL PIX: RR stun RCB in Eliminator; to meet SRH in Qualifer 2

IMAGES from the IPL 2024 Eliminator played between Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad, on Wednesday.

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Rajasthan Royals ended Royal Challengers Bengaluru's roller coaster run in the Indian Premier League with a scrappy four-wicket win in the Eliminator in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.

After their bowlers had done their part well to keep RCB to 172/8, RR batters stuttered in the middle overs to allow RCB back into the contest which remained hung in balance for the majority of the second half, but the 2008 winners eventually got home with an over to spare.

Chasing 173, Rajasthan ended with 174/6 as Rovman Powell (16 not out) provided the finishing touches in a tense finish.

As he has done several times before this season, Riyan Parag (36 off 26) showcased deep resolve in an adverse situation to help Rajasthan stay alive in the tournament. It was Royals' first win after four losses and an abandoned game.

2008 winners Royals face Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai on Friday for a place in the IPL final.

The returning Shimron Hetmyer also played his part to perfection, scoring a crucial 26 off 14 balls.

In a contest wherein fortunes swung from one side to another, RR remained ahead with impactful performances throughout even though Mohammed Siraj (2/33) raised late hopes for RCB with wickets of Parag and Hetmyer in the 18th over,

With 13 needed off last two overs, Powell found two fours off Lockie Ferguson to seal the deal in favour of his side.

Earlier, it was Yashasvi Jaiswal (45 off 30) who gave them the impetus at the top.

Off to an unconvincing start with his initial runs coming off the outside edge, Jaiswal grew in confidence when Yash Dayal fed him a few deliveries to capitalise on and the RR opener cracked four fours in the third over to break the shackles.

At the other end, Tom Kohler-Cadmore (20) also hit a couple of fours against Siraj and while getting a lifeline from Glenn Maxwell, who spilled a sitter at deep square leg off Dayal.

With RR's acceleration rapidly shaving runs off the target, RCB needed a breakthrough and Lockie Ferguson provided the first success when he foxed Kohler-Cadmore with a slow yorker which crashed into the stumps.

The gradual progression of Jaiswal's innings saw the batter finding his rhythm, but the extreme heat sapped him out completely having faced a mere 29 balls.

In between the ninth and the 10th over, Jaiswal received on-field treatment and got back up only to play a loose shot — an attempted ramp off Cameron Green but only gloved it to the ‘keeper.

Soon after, Karn Sharma dealt a body blow by having Sanju Samson (17) stumped.

With their tails up, RCB continued making inroads with Dhruv Jurel (8) being run out after a brilliant effort from Virat Kohli and Cameron Green. Kohli fired a sharp throw from deep midwicket to the non-striker's end, where Jurel was found short of his crease.

RR were firmly under pressure heading into the 15th over when they chose to go after Green, who had been all over them with three tidy overs and a wicket up until then.

Hetmyer smacked the Australian for a six and Parag followed his partner in hitting another, while also finding a four to collect 17 runs.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals put forth a sharp bowling effort.

Led by Trent Boult (4-0-16-1), who produced an opening spell of 3-0-6-1, RR bowlers kept taking wickets at crucial stages to control the game.

The venerable Ravichandran Ashwin (4-0-19-2), having previously gone wicketless for a significant stretch, left an indelible mark with wickets Cameron Green (27) and Glenn Maxwell (0) on consecutive deliveries while Avesh Khan (3/44) also chipped in.

Rajasthan's bowling was adequately backed up by their fielders, particularly Rovman Powell, who took two stunning catches that clipped RCB's progress.

Powell complemented Boult's brilliance in the powerplay with an outstanding catch, running in from deep midwicket to put in a dive in front when Faf du Plessis (17) hit one hard towards him for RR's first breakthrough.

On a docile deck, Boult controlled both his swing and lines to perfection as he kept it tight for the batters to score off him.

But, if Boult kept a lid on RCB, his fellow seamers failed to follow the lead.

Sandeep Sharma gave away 25 runs in his two overs while Avesh went for 17 runs in his one as RCB motored to 50/1 in the powerplay.

Virat Kohli (33 off 24) looked set for a long haul but the wily Yuzvendra Chahal (1/43) cut short his stay in the eighth over, getting the RCB mainstay caught at deep midwicket where substitute fielder Donovan Ferreira took a fine catch above his head.

Chahal lured Kohli for the slog sweep with a delivery that hardly turned and Kohli failed in execution as he hit straight to the fielder.

Both Cameron Green (27) and Rajat Patidar (34) began impressively but couldn't push on.

Green, who smacked a six and a four off Ashwin to shrug off a slow start, perished against the India spinner when he went for a slog in the 13th over but mistimed it.

The ball went high in the air off Green's toe end of the bat, giving Powell enough time to keep his eyes on it as he moved back. Taking it above his head reverse cupped, Powell did hit the ground hard but stood back up immediately signalling the fall had no impact.

RCB's slipped further as Maxwell's horror run persisted, with the seasoned batter hitting one straight to Dhruv Jurel, who had earlier dropped Patidar on 5.

Patidar showed the right intent but perished to short delivery from Avesh which kept rising on him and the batter played it straight to mid-on.

To his credit, Mahipal Lomror hit a quick 17-ball 32 to provide RCB with some late impetus.

Dinesh Karthik (11) was adjudged leg-before on the field but the batter got it overturned via DRS. However, the replays left RR convinced there was a gap between the bat and pads, but the third umpire thought otherwise.