IPL 2018: Samson blitzkrieg prevails as RCB fails to climb 218-run mountain

Virat Kohli's 57 and Mandeep Singh's cameo of 47 were not enough to see RCb through

Rajasthan Royals beat Royak Challengers Banglore by 19 runs in a high-scoring game of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2018). Setting a target of 2018 for RCb, Rajasthan was alwasy in a comfortable position while defending as RCB kept on losing wickets despite some players hitting big shots. Sanju Samson was the hero for RR as he scored 92 from 45. Virat Kohli scored a decent 57 for RCB but no other player could do much in pursuit of the huge total.
   
Earlier, Rajasthan Royal batsmen ripped apart the bowling department of Royal Challengers Banglore in the Indian Premier League match.. Sanju Samson hit 45-ball 92 to take his team to 217. Bowlers failed miserably and could not contain runs at all. Sanju Samson hit 10 sixes. Only Yazuvendra Chahal bowled decently for RCB. This is the highest total for any team in this year's IPL. 
 

Virat Kohli-led Royal Challengers Banglore won the toss in today's match of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2018) against Ajinkya Rahane-led Rajasthan Royals and invited RR to bat first. 

Royal Challengers Banglore innings update: Over by over

Over 1: Brendon McCullum and Quinton De Kock to open. Krishnappa Gowtham to open the bowling. First ball four, poor fielding. McCullum hit that hard. Pulled, and he is gone. McCullum is out, he gave it straight in the hands of the fielder. McCullum gone for 4. Virat Kohli is in. Onto the pads. Single taken. 

Over 2: Dhawal Kulkarni comes to bowl. Classic shot by Kohli for four. Pushed for a dot.  Cracking four. Flicked away for four. Kohli won't let it go so easily. Single to Kohli, he's anguished. De Kock to face, One run. Keeps strike. RCB: 19-1

Over 3: Gowtham to continue, one run, Kohli on fire, another four. Chipped for one. Dot ball. De Kock hit a four. End of Over; RCb 29-1

Over 4: Jaidev Unadkat into the attack, Four, now De Kock takes the charge, straight drive. Dot ball, played to mid-off for no run. Single to Kock. Single, Kohli keeps the strike. RCB: 38-1

Over 5:  Gowtham to continue. One run. Another single. Need boundaries. Another single. De Kock steps out, hits a four. Swept, swept for four. Dot to end the over. RCB: 49-1.

Over 6: Ben Stokes comes to the attack and Kohli greets him with a four. Just a single this time. Kock hits for a single, Kohli on strike, flicked off the pads for two. Full toss, Kohli sends it to the boundary, four runs. Wide, down the leg. Double to end the powerplay. RCB: 64-1

Over 7: Shreyas Gopal into the attack, starts off with a dot. De Kock cuts and just a single. Kohli pulls another one, four runs. Appeal for LBW for Kohli, turned down. One run, down the leg. De Kock pulls hard, just one. end of over. RCB 71-1

Over 8:  D Arcy Shorts is into the attack, De Kock fails to put it away. Kohli hits one-handed six, wow! One run, down the leg. De Kock rotating strike well. Just a single to end the over. RCB 82-1

Over 9: Shorts is back. De Kock pulls and he is caught at deep square leg. Gone for 26. Here comes AB DeVilliers. Kohli takes a single and brings up his 50. Lucky for ABD. Sweeps for two. Dot ball. Stumping chance missed. And here is the price for it, SIX. end of over. RCB 91-2

Over 10: Ben Laughlin into the attack, ABD takes a single. miscommunication, run out missed. Just one. ABD joins the party, SIX. Single, 100 up for RCb, over finished.

Over 11: Gopal is back. Virat is gone, caught at the boundary. gone for 57. Shreyas Gopal has done the trick for RR. Mandeep Singh joins ABD. One run. Single to ABD. Another single, they need boundaries. ABDflicks to keep the strike. RCB 105-3.

Over 12:  Dhawal Kulkarni is back. One run to ABD. Mandeep cuts for one. Dealing in singles. Won't work. RCB need boundaries. Another single. ABD cuts and bisects two fielders, gone for four. Powerful shot for one. End of over. RCb 114-3

Over 13: Shreyas Gopal is back. He does the trick again. deVilliers is out for 20.  RCB in deep deep trouble. Pawan Negi comes in. Magical spell by Gopal. In the air, no man's land. End of over. RCB: 116-4.

Over 14: Gowtham in back and Mandeep greets him with a giant six. Cuts for one. End of over. RCB 126-4

Over 15: Ben Laughlin to Negi. He is out. Gone for 3. Washington Sundar comes in. Mandeep hits a four. Pulled, just for one. Wide. Barely defended that one. Sloppy shit. Wide. Swing and a miss. 

Over 16: Just five came from Ben Stoke's over.

Over 17: Unadkat is back and gets hit for a six. Four to Mandeep. Another four. Two more. Dot to end. RCB: 157-5

Over 18: Sundar takes a single. Laughlin is back. In the air, just two. Yorker. Washington Sundar hits a six. Smashed for two. Single to end the over. RCB: 170-5

Over 19: Sundar hits a decent four. That is a six. Dot. Double. He's out. Sundar has to go. Chris Woakes comes in. Dot to end. RCB: 182-6. Need 36 from 6. 

Over 20: Ben Stokes to bowl. Double. Four. Trying to shorten the margin of defeat. Four more. Wow again four. Two runs. Swing and a miss. RCB 198-6 after 20 overs. Rajasthan win by 19 runs. 

Rajasthan Royals innings update: Over by over

Over 1: Washington Sundar to start off for RCB. Ajinkya Rahane and D Arcy Short to open for RR. A reverse sweep by Rahane, no run. Flicked off the pads for one. Shorts on strike. Dot. Another dot. Dot to end the over. Decent one. RR 1-0

Over2:  Chris Woakes to bowl, starts off with a wide. Confused shot by Rahane. Pulled for four. Sublime Rahane. Flicked off the pads, just a single to Rahane. Waokes trying to find his rhythm. Swing and a miss. Shorts not moving his feet.  Defended, single taken, Shorts is off the strike. Nice one in the blockhole for a dot. End of over: RR 8-0

Over 3: Sundar to continue, Shorts chips one for a single. Rahane steps out, checks his short at the last moment, takes a single. Clever by Sundar. Single to Shorts. Swept well, Rahane hits a four. Makes some room, Rahane hits straight over Sundar's head for six. Single, easy pickings. End of over. RR 22-0

Over 4: Umesh Yadav comes to bowl. Dot to start off with. Short flick for no run. Single is taken. Yadav bowls towards the leg, Rahane says thank you and dispatches it for four. Wide, this time on off side. Yadav struggling to find the right line, Rahane scores a four. End of over: RR 33-0.

Over 5: Yuzvendra Chahal comes to the attack, Shorts take a single. Rahane makes some room, no run. Rahane sweeps again, get a four, barely missed six. Single, Nice strike rotation. Finally a good shot by Shorts, down the ground for four. End of over: RR 43-0

Over 6: Woakes to continue. Width on offer, Rahane fails to capitalise, just one run. Shorts pulls, what an effort in the field by Mandeep Singh, saved a definite four. Just one. Rahane sweeps for four. Inthe air, not a good shot by Rahane, Umesh Yadav takes a comfortable catch. Rahane gone for 36. Sanju Samson is the new batsman. Wide. Shorts drives for a single. Punches on the off side for a single, off the mark. End of powerplay. RR 52-1.

Over 7: Chahal to continue, Dot. Another dot. Sanju plays to long-on for a single. Pitched up, Shorts fails to hit it. Shorts cuts, caught behind. Chahal strikes, Shorts gone for 11. Ben Stokes comes in, chips on the leg side, takes a single. End of the over: RR 54-2.

Over 8: Kulwant Khejrolia comes in. Onto the pads of Stokes, no run. Short pitched, Stokes could not manage it, single taken. Sanju pushed it for no run. Sanju pulls Kulwant for a six! What a shot. Down the leg for one. Single to Stokes. End of over. RR 63-2.

Over 9: Sundar to continue. One run. Dot ball. Stokes tries to make room, just one. Another single. Again tries to make room, Sundar bowls onto his body, just a single. End of over. RR 68-2. Strategic timeout. 

Over 10: Umesh Yadav to continue. Stokes takes a single down the leg side. Chipped in the air, single to Sanju. Dot, decent ball. Stokes steps out, hits it straight to the fielder at mid-off. Nicely driven for a double. Reaches to the ball, Stokes pulls for four. End of over. RR 76-2

Over 11:  Sundar to bowl his third final over. Sanju smashes him for a huge six. Single to Sanju, intelligent cricket. Stokes struggling. Makes room, Sundar follows him, just a single. Nicely pushed by Sanju for one. Single for Stokes to end the over. RR: 86-2

Over 12: Khejrolia to continue, lucky for Stokes he did not drag the ball onto his stumps. Cut through off side for four, Stokes must be relaxed. Stokes pulls,  and gets a maximum, finding some form after all. Pushed for a single. Cheeky Single by Sanju. Down the leg side, wide given, Kulwant under pressure. Down the leg, brilliant fielding. RR 101-2

Over 13: Chahal to continue, Sanju takes an easy single. Ben Stokes drags the ball onto his stumps, played-on. Ben Stokes gone for 27. Jos Butler comes in. Reverse Sweeps for four. SIngle for Jos. SIngle, that was in the air, just short off the fielder at point. Tries to sweep, misses, keeper misses, so does the slip fielder, 4 byes. RR 112-3

Over 14: Pawan Negi comes to the attack. High in the air, in no man's land, two runs. Dot Ball. Sanju hit a huge six. Pushed for a single. Good ball, no run. Edged, gone for four. The keeper had no chance. End of over. RR 125-3

Over 15: Chahal continues. Dot after dot. Single for Sanju, Butler on strike. Wide. Another dot. Just a single, tight bowling by Chahal. Single to end. RR 129-3. Strategic timeout.

Over 16: Yadav to continue. Too wide down the leg side. Beemer! Yadav issued a warning, here comes the free hit. Six, Sanju making full use of the free hit. Dot ball. Nicely cut, third man stops it, just a single. Two runs to Jos Butler. On the body, just one for Butler. Risky single, but safe in the end. End of over: RR 142-3. 

Over 17: Chris Woakes is back. Yorker, beautiful. Samson on song, hits a huge six. Yorker again. Well played, just a single. Single. One more Yorker, just a single, What class by Woakes. Short pitch, dispatched for six. End of over. RR 157-3

Over 18: Khejrolia to continue, full toss, Sanju misses. Mishit on the leg side, just one. Another double. Single and Single. Sanju hits a massive six. And another one. Brilliant six! End of over. RR 173-3.

Over 19: Woakes to continue. Double for Butler. In the blockhole, straight to Kohli, Butler departs for 23. Rahul Tripathi joins Sanju. One run to start off. Six for Sanju, no stopping him now. That's how you play a yorker, nothing wrong with the ball, just brilliant batting, four runs. Another four. End of over. RR 190-4

Over 20: Umesh to bowl the final. Two runs for Rahul Tiwari. Huge six, marvellous! Four more, superb stuff from Rahul. Single, oh it is a no ball, here comes a free hit. Six!  Another one. Fantastic. Single to end the innings. 

 Rajasthan Royals innings analysis

Chris Woakes came to bowl the 17th over and started with a good Yorker for no run. But the very next ball was hit for a six over mid-wicket as he was nearing his half-century. Samson brings his half-century in a 34th ball as Rajasthan Royals reached the 150 mark. In his 3rd over, Chris Woakes gave away 15 runs. At the end of 17th over Rajasthan Royals was 157 for 3. Kulwant Khejroliya came to bowl the 18th over and started off well by bowling a dot ball of the first over. In his first 4 balls 4 runs before sent for a gigantic six by Sanju Samson of his last two balls. He gave away 16 runs in the 18th over of the innings. Woakes came to bowl the 19th over and took the wicket of Butler, who scored 23 runs off 14 balls with a strike rate of 164, in the 2nd ball of the over. Sanju Samson hit his 8th six of his innings over long-off and glides the 5th and last ball for four to bring 190 marks for Rajasthan Royals. Chris, woakes once again bowled expensive over and finished his quota of overs giving 17 runs. Umesh Yadav came to bowl the 20th over, Tripathy joined the party and hit the 2nd ball of the last over for six over long on. He dispatched the second ball for a four over square leg. Yadav’s 3rd ball was no ball and Samson took the full advantage of the free hit as he hit it for a six. The 5th ball of the over was dispatched for a six over cover. In the mandatory 20 overs, Rajasthan Royals scored 217 runs with the help of 92 runs by Sanju Samson. A big task for the RCB

Here is the playing XI for both the teams:

Rajasthan Royals Playing XI: Ajinkya Rahane (c), D Arcy Short, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler (w), Rahul Tripathi, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Laughlin. Team remains unchanged

Royal Challengers Bangalore Playing XI: Quinton de Kock (w), Brendon McCullum, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Washington Sundar, Chris Woakes, Pawan Negi, Kulwant Khejroliya, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal. Change: Pawan Negi comes in for Sarfaraz Khan

Both Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Banglore are entering the match with a win in their previous matches. While RCB defeated Kings XI Punjab by 4 wickets, RR beat Delhi Daredevils by 10 runs. Both teams have two points from two matches.

 
Royal Challengers Bangalore will be bubbling with confidence, having opened their account by beating Kings XI Punjab at the same venue on Friday. After RCB bowlers dismissed KXIP for 155, there was a bit of drama in RCB’s run-chase, but AB de Villiers’ summoned his experience and used his ability to swing matches in an instant to ensure RCB got over the finish line and get their first points on the board. Pacer Umesh Yadav took three wickets in one over to be a star for RCB, which had finished last in the league table in the previous season of IPL. Meanwhile, the RCB management will be worried about the form of Chris Woakes; though the Englishman has picked up 5 wickets, he has conceded 72 in the 7.5 overs that he has bowled so far this IPL.
 
While Rajasthan lost their opening tie against Sunrisers Hyderabad, they came back strongly in the rain-affected contest against Delhi Daredevils and won the match by 10 runs by D/L method. Rajasthan Royals surely fell on the favourable side of the Duckworth-Lewis Method and might want to look at a few areas that need improvement, especially batting. Rajasthan Royals' three big guns in the IPL 2018 Auction – Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat and D’Arcy Short – are yet to make a significant contribution and the RR management will be hoping they can come good in today's match.
 
Here are a few things you need to know before today's Rajasthan Royals vs Royal Challengers Bangalore match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the teams performance in recent clashes and what to look forward to:
 
What Gowthan said about RR's preparation ahead of today's match: Rajasthan Royals spinner Krishnappa Gowtham said his team picked up some tricks by watching Royal Challengers Bangalore's previous game and has prepared accordingly for the today's match. "We did get to watch yesterday's game. We wanted to know what the wicket was doing. When bowlers were bowing it had initial grip, so it is an added advantage. The way the RCB batted there are lot of things we can look at. The way they tackled the spin was very good. We have different plans for different players and hope they all come out good," said Gowtham.
 

Here is a look at how each team in today's contest has fared head-to-head against each other in IPL tournaments so far:
 
Overall

Matches played: 16
Royal Challengers Bangalore won: 8
Rajasthan Royals won: 7
No Result: 1
 
At the M Chinnaswamy Stadium:

Matches played: 6
Royal Challengers Bangalore won: 2
Rajasthan Royals won: 3
No Result: 1
 
Some trivia ahead of today's match between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore
 
Rajasthan Royals’ D’Arcy Short has been run out twice in two matches this season.
Ben Stokes has dismissed Virat Kohli on 5 occasions so far in his career – including once in IPL 2017.
While AB de Villiers averages 48.50 against the Rajasthan Royals, Virat Kohli averages 19.85 – his lowest against any of the IPL teams.
 
IPL 2018: In 218-run chase, Kohli steadies RCB after early McCullum los