IPL 10, Match 17, RCB vs RPS Review: Stokes, Tiwary end losing streak for Pune

It was yet another disappointing performance by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) as one of the hot contenders of the tournament lost their 4th match the tournament after going down against Rising Pune Supergiant by 27 runs at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was a below par performance by the home side as they failed to chase 162. With this defeat, they go down to the bottom of the table with 4 losses out of 5.

Earlier in the day, it was the quickfire 27 of 11 balls by Manoj Tiwary which propelled the visitors to a score of 161. It wasn’t a huge score but was a par for the course especially on a two faced wicket. All the top order batsmen made some valuable contributions but were unable to convert it into a big one. Adam Milne was the surprise package for Bangalore finishing with figures of 2/27.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Virat Kohli won the toss and put the visitors in. He began with the newcomer Milne started off with a fiery opening over conceding only 3 runs. Both the openers opened up from the 2nd over and started hitting boundaries on a consistent basis. While Tripathi smashed a good length delivery towards the cover boundary, his partner Ajinkya Rahane added a couple more in the next 5 deliveries.

Tripathi really looked in ominous touch and carried on from where he left in the previous game. He deposited Sreenath Arvind for a huge six over the long-on region and followed it up with another boundary in the next delivery. Rahane followed it up with a couple of boundaries more in the 5th over as Pune reached 55/0 at the end of the powerplay.

Hat-trick man from the previous match provided RCB with the first wicket by breaching through Rahane’s defence with a well-disguised googly. The ball pitched outside the off and turned sharply to disturb the timbers. Tripathi too fell in the very next over of Pawan Negi while attempting a big shot. MS Dhoni who came out at No.4 position struck a couple of boundaries of Samuel Badree in the 10th over.

Smith and Dhoni kept rotating along the strike until the latter unleashed a mind-boggling shot which went outside the stadium. Yuzvendra Chahal was at the receiving end as the ball went sailing over the stadium. It was certainly an authoritative statement by the former captain. Pune lost the plot a bit as they lost 5 quick wickets which and were reduced to 130/7 from 127/2. It was a horrendous collapse, to say the least, but they still had Manoj Tiwary in their ranks who could have proved a point and he did exactly that.

The man from Bengal played an astonishing innings of 27 runs from 11 balls which included 3 fours and 2 maximum. It was surely a match-changing innings which tilted the scale in favour of Pune.  Chasing a competitive total, Kohli made a statement in the very first over while chasing the score as the right-hander smashed Jaydev Unadkat for a six over deep square leg fielder.

His partner Mandeep Singh continued his lacklustre form and was dismissed in the 2nd over of Shardul Thakur. The opening slot will certainly be a worry for RCB and we might see Watson opening the batting with Kohli the next day if Gayle is omitted again. AB de Villiers came to the crease and smashed a four and six almost immediately.

Kohli followed it up with a couple of boundaries of Shardul Thakur in the 4th over but in the final over of the powerplay, the RCB captain gave away his wicket to Ben Stokes in the weirdest of fashions. It was a nothing shot which brought about his downfall. Boundaries dried up for the next 3-4 overs as Kedar Jadhav and de Villiers was doing the resurrecting job.

De Villiers smashed his countryman Imran Tahir for a big six but the leggie got the better of him in his very next over as Mr.30 was undone by the brilliance of Tahir and Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The ball pitched in the middle and leg and turned sharply. De Villiers lost his balance and was out of the crease as Dhoni whipped the bails off in a flash. It was a sensational piece of bowling and stumping which gave Pune their 3rd wicket.

Runs dried up totally as no boundaries were struck in the next 5 overs. Kedar Jadhav eventually gave away his wicket to Jaydev Unadkat in a bid to score quick runs. It was a well-disguised slower delivery as Jadhav was way too early into the shot. He missed it completely and the ball struck the timbers. It was a wonderful sight for Unadkat and Pune as the visitors sensed victory.

Watson struck a couple of boundaries of Ben Stokes in the 16th over but couldn’t carry on as the Englishmen got the better of him in the final delivery of the over. Binny kept the hopes with a six and a four of Dan Christian in the 17th over and Pawan Negi added another six in the first delivery of the 18th over.

But just when RCB was slowly clawing their way back into the match Negi and Binny both fell in the same over as they put the nail in the coffin. There was no way back from RCB from there on as the home team eventually fell short by 27 runs. This was Pune’s 2nd victory of the tournament while it was RCB’s 4th loss.

Brief Scores

Rising Pune Supergiant 161/8 in 20 overs (Rahul Tripathi 31, Manoj Tiwary 27*, Adam Milne 2/27)

Royal Challengers Bangalore 134/9 in 20 overs (AB de Villiers 29, Virat Kohli 28, Ben Stokes 3/18, Shardul Thakur 3/35, Jaydev Unadkat 2/25)

Rising Pune Supergiant won by 27 runs

Check out – Full scorecard here 

Check out – Points table here