Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by six wickets in match 14 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2014 after Pravin Tambe and Kane Richardson cleaned up the formidable Bangalore batting for the lowest total of the IPL 7 so far. Bangalore were always had their tails between their legs after losing four wickets in the first four overs and despite still resistance from Virat Kohli and Mitchell Starc, Rajasthan folded cheaply.
Chasing a meager target of 71, Ajankya Rahane took Rajasthan off to a flying start with his flashy cut shots in full-display against with Karnataka youngster Karun Nair giving him good support at the crease. Ravi Rampaul bowled a tidy over which almost got him Karun’s wicket. Rahane though was in fantastic form, playing a gorgeous cover drive and pulling starc for a boundary.
With Rahane going strong at one end, Karun Nair soon got on the act and grew in confidence at the crease. Despite Rampaul knowing that his team are slumping to a defeat was trying bouncers which troubled the batsmen. Starc then produced a gem of a delivery and cramped Rahane at the crease to get an inside edge of his bat and it was in the keeper’s hands. With youngsters Karun and Sanju Samson getting the perfect opportunity to be there till the end but they spurned the chance when they decided to go for a couple when there it wasn’t on offer and Samson was caught short of the crease.
Karun departed soon after, trying a wild slash of Starc and was caught behind and there were encouraging signs for Bangalore. Shane Watson came to the crease and played a couple of lovely straight drives before Yuzvendra Chahal, yet again tied down batsmen before Watson let loose and smashed a straight six over Chahal’s head. There was a run out scare later in the innings when Nayar and Watson decide to go for a final flourish to finish things off and it resulted in a huge six of Chahal and then holding out to Ab de villiers of a top edge. Nayar finished proceedings with a nudge third man, where the batsmen ran three runs.
Chief scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 70 in 15 overs (Virat Kohli 21, Mitchell Starc 18; Pravin Tambe 4 for 20, Kane Richardson 2 for 18)
Rajasthan Royals: 71/4 in 13 overs (Ajinkya Rahane 23, Ahishek Nayar 11*, Shane Watson 24; Mitchell Starc 2 for 29)
Man of the Match: Pravin Tambe
