Rajasthan Royals got off the mark in IPL 2019 after their seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Jaipur on Tuesday. After winning the toss, RR elected to field. A stunning spell from Shreyas Gopal helped them restrict RCB to 158/4 despite a fifty from Parthiv Patel and a late blitz from Moeen Ali. In reply, RR got off to a great start and never looked back, thanks to a fifty from Jos Buttler and a crucial from Steve Smith.
Here are the three main takeaways from RR's win over RCB:
Leg spinners' day out
With the pacers from both sides going for runs, it was all about the two leg spinners from both sides. In the end, it was Shreyas Gopal's sensational spell that helped his side get off the mark in IPL 2019.
After coming in to bowl immediately after the powerplay, Gopal got rid of Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Shimron Hetmyer in three successive overs to change the complexion of the game. He eventually finished with figures of 4-1-12-3.
Not to be outdone, Yuzvendra Chahal did his part as well, as he finished with figures of 2/17 from his four overs. Unfortunately for Chahal, he simply had no support from the other bowlers and didn't have enough runs to defend after a great start from RR.
Parthiv's consistency
In a team that has Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, it is perhaps surprising that Parthiv Patel is RCB's leading run-getter so far this season. If there has been one criticism of Parthiv over the years, it is that he hasn't been consistent despite getting off to quick starts.
Already this season, he has put that to rest. In three of the four games, he has played this season, he has gone past 25. And while that might not seem like much, you have to take into account that RCB have been bowled out for 70 and 113 in two of those games.
Against RR, despite the loss of Kohli and AB early, Parthiv took the onus and scored a 41-ball 67 to take his side to a respectable total. While a lot has gone wrong for RCB so far, Parthiv's consistency is one of the few bright spots for them.
Where do RCB go from here?
If RCB were going to defend a moderate total, they needed to be excellent in the field. Unfortunately for them, they were the opposite of that and it all started in the second over when the skipper dropped his counterpart for 1.
That was the first of four dropped catches from RCB, which meant that they lost in the penultimate ball of the 20th over. After the game, Kohli spoke about the need to take confidence from their performance in close games.
RCB certainly need something to go their way if they are to break their duck in IPL 2019 and go on a run as their skipper wants them to. Finding a consistent starting XI, especially when it comes to their overseas players would be a good start.