RCB commit hara-kiri against KKR to suffer yet another heartbreak, face early exit from IPL 2024

Royal Challengers Bengaluru just can’t seem to catch a break in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They had been denied a spot in the playoffs on the last day of the league stage last year, with Mumbai Indians sneaking in ahead of them.

And in the 17th edition, RCB are on the verge of becoming the first team to bow out of the playoffs race, and are practically out of contention, even if they remain mathematically alive.

RCB had begun the season with a six-wicket defeat against fierce rivals Chennai Super Kings (CSK) but appeared to have things back on track with a hard-fought four-wicket win against Punjab Kings. Since then, things have gone from bad to worse for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, suffering six defeats in a row to find themselves at the bottom of the 10-team table. It’s as if the ghosts of 2017 and 2019, the seasons in which Bengaluru had finished at the very bottom, have returned to haunt them.

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The nightmare began with a seven-wicket hammering at the hands of the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Chinnaswamy on 29 March, in which the Shreyas Iyer-led side made a mockery of the 183-run target set by the hosts with Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 83 going in vain. The two sides would meet again in the afternoon clash of the Sunday double-header, and this time the defeat — by a solitary run — would perhaps hurt even more, given the match was firmly in their grasp at one point.

Jacks, Patidar put Bengaluru on top

Wicketkeeper-batter Phil Salt’s blazing 48 off just 14 deliveries along with a first half-century of the season for captain Shreyas (50 off 36) and an explosive cameo from Ramandeep Singh (24 not out off 9) helped KKR finish on a commanding 222/6.

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The Knight Riders, however, were wary of getting complacent after posting the tall score, given how Jos Buttler’s heroics helped Rajasthan Royals pull off a thrilling chase at the same venue after being set a similar target. And the Royal Challengers did have that kind of batting power in their ranks to chase this down, especially after posting 262 against Sunrisers Hyderabad and giving the ‘Orange Army’ a scare in their defence of their record total of 287.

Things hardly went according to plan for Bengaluru at the start of their chase though. Virat Kohli got into a heated argument with the umpires after he chipped a waist-high full toss back to Harshit Rana for a catch off his own bowling. Skipper du Plessis would follow Kohli back to the dugout, getting dismissed for a scratchy, run-a-ball 7.

RCB were starting to go down a familiar route in the fourth over when Englishman Will Jacks began to turn things around, collecting three fours in a space of two overs of spin before smashing Mitchell Starc for three sixes and a four in the final over of the powerplay that cost the Australian left-arm quick 22 runs. Bengaluru suddenly were back in business at 74/2 at the end of the powerplay, their run-rate similar to that of Kolkata at the same stage.

The 25-year-old Surrey all-rounder would eventually bring up his maiden IPL half-century in 29 deliveries, reaching the milestone with a four in the ninth over.

The next two overs, however, would shift the balance of the game firmly in favour of the visiting team as Rajat Patidar teed off against Suyash Sharma and Sunil Narine, with a total of 37 runs coming in those two overs, to race to his half-century in just 21 balls. From 17 off 11 deliveries, Patidar would shift gears and collect 35 off the next 10 balls.

The Madhya Pradesh batter had a horror run in the England Tests and wasn’t among the runs in the IPL for the most part this season, but his blazing knock on Sunday, along with his 26-ball 50 against Mumbai Indians, help justify the faith that the RCB team management has shown in him.

RCB commit hara-kiri at the Eden

At 137/2 at the end of 11 overs, it was Bengaluru’s game to lose and one of Jacks or Patidar had to stay at the crease till the end for them to reach home in a canter and snap their losing run. The 12th and the 13th overs of the chase, however, summed up RCB’s run in the season so far and might just have sealed their playoffs fate.

Ahead of toss, West Indian all-rounder Andre Russell had emphasised on his ability as a bowler and that he was as focused on his skills with the ball even if it’s his batting that has dominated headlines of late. “Most guys will say I enjoy my batting but I always ask what about my bowling. I’ve transformed into a batting allrounder but I never give up on my bowling,” Dre Russ said ahead of Sunday’s clash.

By getting rid of the two set batters in Jacks and Patidar in a space of four deliveries, Russell highlighted why he’s such an asset for his team. Jacks hit the ball straight to Angkrish Raghuvanshi at long-on while looking to collect his sixth maximum and maintain his team’s stranglehold while Patidar ended up getting a thick leading edge that resulted in a simple catch for Rana at backward point.

Even more perplexing was both Cameron Green and Mahipal Lomror departing in quick succession off Narine’s bowling in the following over, right after collecting a boundary. It was as if they were asked to chase the target down inside 15 overs instead of 20. The game suddenly had turned on its head as RCB went from 137/2 to 155/6.

Bengaluru deserve credit for taking the game deep and fighting till the very end. Dinesh Karthik struck three sixes and a four to briefly revive his team’s fledgling hopes, but ended up getting a thick top-edge while attempting to play a scoop off Russell, becoming his third wicket as a result.

Karn Sharma took on Starc in the final over, smashing the veteran pacer for three sixes to bring the equation down to three runs off two balls, before the latter somewhat redeemed himself with an unbelievable catch on the penultimate delivery.

Lockie Ferguson connected with the final delivery, but ended up falling well short of the striker’s end, where Salt collected a wide throw from Ramandeep and acrobatically broke the stumps to bring the match to a dramatic end, resulting in the RCB dugout wearing another gloomy look at the end - something that has become customary this season.