Rajat Patidar, who was dismissed at a critical juncture in the high-scoring thriller, produced a brilliant innings of 52 off 23 balls against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
In their grueling pursuit of a 223-run goal against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday, April 21 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) lost the match by a mere run. With just two points and a dismal net run-rate (NRR) of -1.046, RCB continued to wriggle at the bottom of the standings after suffering their seventh defeat in eight games.
In the first four overs of the run chase, RCB lost both of their openers. But Will Jacks and Rajat Patidar came together to weave a 102-run partnership off of 48 balls, giving Faf du Plessis’ team hope for a historic victory. But they were defeated by Andre Russell, and they left in the same over.
Jacks was the first player removed after hitting a slot delivery straight to long on for a 32-ball fifty-five. Patidar tried to whip a slower delivery across the line to the leg-side, but it touched the leading edge and sailed straight up in the air before falling in the hands of Harshit Rana at backward point. Three balls later, Patidar fell for a 23-ball 55.
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According to former Australian captain Aaron Finch, Patidar ought to have batted for a few more overs to make sure that two new hitters didn’t combine at the crease.
In order for the RCB to have a batter who is in, he needed to make sure he batted two or three overs deeper. Yes, we have witnessed some incredible scores as well as players trying to hit the first ball out of the park with their walkout. However, there needs to be a plan in place as well,” Finch stated to Star Sports.
“You can’t just walk off and give up wickets, especially when it comes to batters.” It’s challenging enough to get in, particularly on a surface like that when spinners were making an impact and the ball was holding enough. Patidar had to relax for four or five balls, go on to the next over, and then reevaluate. However, it is unfeasible to let two hitters out in the same over,” he continued.
After being asked to bat first, Kolkata got off to a fantastic start earlier in the day thanks to a 14-ball 48 from Phil Salt. Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, and Angkrish Raghuvanshi all left the game cheaply, but Shreyas Iyer hit a fifty off of 36 balls to carry the KKR innings along. The hosts finished with 222/6 in their 20 overs thanks to a scorching 43-run stand between Russell and Ramandeep Singh that was achieved in just 16 balls.
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The equation came down to RCB needing 21 runs off the last over. To push the visitors to the limit, Karn Sharma smashed a faltering Mitchell Starc for three sixes in the first four balls. But the Australian speedster returned to dismiss him off the fifth ball, and KKR was able to secure two vital points and advance to the playoffs with the help of a runout on the final ball.
