Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul (Photo | PTI)
BENGALURU: Royal Challengers Bangalore, despite having some star studded players in the past, have failed to win the title in 14 years. At the start of every season, ‘will it be their season’ does the rounds. Keeping their history in mind, there were no huge expectations from the franchise, but someone or the other has delivered at crucial junctures this season, helping the franchise in keeping the flames of their first title alive.
They were hoping for something similar when RCB faced Lucknow Super Giants at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. A surprised hero emerged. It was not the likes of Virat Kohlis, Faf Du Plessis, Glenn Maxwells, who stole the show. It was a batter from Madhya Pradesh, Rajat Patidar, who came up with an astounding batting display, scoring an unbeaten maiden ton, to help Bangalore end up with 207/4.
His 54-ball 112, which included 12 fours and seven sixes, will go down as one of the best innings in the play-offs. In reply, KL Rahul started slow before finishing with 79 runs from 58 balls. Deepak Hooda smashed a 26-ball 45 but LSG eventually fell short by 14 runs.
Earlier, Patidar, who featured for the franchise last season, was not even considered good enough to be bought at the IPL auction by any of the teams. It did come as a big surprise considering his base price was just 20 lakhs. Eventually, early April, he was brought in as a replacement for the injured Luvnith Sisodia by RCB and the player brought his A game when his team needed it the most.
With Du Plessis dismissed in the first over, coming in at number three, the pressure was on him to deliver and stay alongside Kohli. He had a good look at the pitch for ten balls or so, and decided to cut loose in the sixth over, smashing Krunal Pandya for three fours and a six, which pumped his batting partner at the other end, to end the powerplay at 52/1.
As the game progressed, Patidar became even more confident, playing some incredible shots against both the pacers and the spinners. Though others around him like Kohli and Maxwell did not time the ball well, Patidar gave a feeling that he was batting on a different surface. One of the main reasons for his success this innings was his approach, as he was always on the lookout of scoring quick runs.
Even when the likes of Kohli, Maxwell and others lost their wickets, he was a man on a mission. It was in the 16th over of the innings, one realised the batter is here to make a statement. He hit three sixes and two fours off Ravi Bishnoi to reach the nervous nineties.
However, it was the Lucknow fielders, who showed nerves as they dropped him a couple of times en route Patidar’s hundred in the 18th over. Catching was a big problem for LSG as Dinesh Karthik, who was dropped by KL Rahul early on in his innings, played his finisher’s role to perfection. The wicket-keeper batter, who has made a comeback into the Indian team, proved the selectors right with an unbeaten 23-ball 37, including five fours and a six.
Brief scores: RCB 207/4 in 20 overs (Patidar 112 n.o, Dinesh 37 n.o) vs LSG 193/6 in 20 ovs (Rahul 79; Harshal 1/25, Hazlewood 3/43).
