IPL 2018: Match 11, RCB vs RR - Who Said What

Rajasthan Royals (RR) stunned Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB)  by 19 runs in their own den at the jam-packed Chinnaswamy Stadium. It was the day for Sanju Samson to create mayhem against the bowlers of the home side as he blazed through to 92 off just 45 deliveries. Virat Kohli also played a special knock replicating his 2016 form but once he was gone it was all one-way traffic as the visitors pounced on and closed the game to leave the crowd heart-broken once again.

After losing the toss, Royals got off to a brilliant start courtesy Ajinkya Rahane who went berserk in the powerplay. After his wicket, Samson took over and played a special innings for his team as he got an able and sufficient support from Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Rahul Tripathi at the other end. The bowling from RCB was absolutely lacklustre as they leaked runs at the death and the Boys in Blue latched on to the opportunities eventually posting a mountain of 217 runs for the loss of 4 wickets after their 20 overs.

In the chase, the hosts were rocked early as Krishnappa Gowtham scalped Brendon McCullum in the very first over after which Kohli took the game in his hands. He played wonderfully well and while he was there one felt that the chase was really possible. His 57-run knock off 30 balls proved that he will come harder in the next games at other teams. However, for this game, his innings wasn’t enough at all and it was finished once AB de Villiers lost his wicket.

Though Mandeep Singh and Washington Sundar smacked a few in the stands, it was always going to be a tough ask for them. They eventually fell 19 runs short scoring 198 runs for the loss of 6 wickets after their 20 overs.

Man of the Match, Sanju Samson said:

I’m grateful to play this tournament every two months of the year. I’m feeling good, hitting the ball well, but the tournament has just started. I want to win as many matches as I can on the field. I love doing what my team wants me to do, whether it’s on the field or as a keeper.

Rajasthan Royals skipper, Ajinkya Rahane said:

Feels good, we know how dangerous they are against RCB. We were looking to score 160-170, but the way Sanju and Jos batted was incredible. We’ve been trying without left-right combination upfront. All of them have experience, it was about one big partnership.

K Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal bowled really well. When you score 200 plus, the opponents will come hard at you. They held their own really well. Sanju and I have played together, he’s the future for India and we all back him.

Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper, Virat Kohli said:

We knew exactly where it went wrong. Having 70 in 10 overs, we were going good with the ball. But giving 140-odd in the last 10 is never a good sign. The wicket was slower than what we played like. We would have loved to have 20 runs lesser to chase.

But then, I have never seen a game where four batsmen have got out to half-trackers. There is a lot of belief in the side, even when we needed 85 off the last 5 overs, we had belief. That mindset is important. We had 100 in 10 overs, we were confident and if we hadn’t lost two wickets in six balls, things could have been different.

No ifs or buts though. First game we were on track, we had our chances today as well. Too early (in the season) to make drastic changes though.

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