RCB WIN OVER RAJASTHAN

Royal Challengers Bangalore win over Rajasthan Royals with a four wicket drag by

Left arm spinner KP Appanna and half- centuries from Tilakaratne Dilshan and

AB de Villiers. But Bangalore, who were 62 for 2 at the end of 10 overs, have to mostly thank de Villiers  and Dilshan to put up an intimidating 189 for 3 on the board. However, nothing can be taken away from Appanna who was bowling to tournament’s in-form batting line-up that included Ajinkya Rahane and OwaisShah. Rajasthan’s run-chase kicked off on a bright note, with Rahane and Rahul Dravid putting up a 56-run stand. But Rahane failed to clear the boundary.

While Dravid continued to find the boundary, Owais Shah  and Shreevats Goswami became the next victims of Appanna’s craftiness to turn a good start into a unsteady one at 87 for 3 in the 12th over. And when Appanna had  Dravid caught for 58, Rajasthan were left to fight a lost battle, with the required run-rate high past 13.

Brad Hodge , the hosts’ last hope but he too submit to the pressure of chasing a big total. Other than Appanna, Harshal Patel and Zaheer Khan  were the wicket-takers for Bangalore.

But the day belonged to the 122-run shared by de Villiers and Dilshan after Virat Kohli came in to open with Dilshan. Gayle who didn’t open because of sickeness  came in at No. 4 after Kohli’s bad patch was extended by Pankaj Singh he made just 16. Mayank Aggarwal hung around for a while but was netted by Brad Hogg in attempts to break the shackles. And when a less than 100 percent Gayle was caught in front by Hogg for 10, the scoreboard showed Bangalore in a bother and Rajasthan in control at 67 for 3.

However, that’s when Rajasthan started losing their grip over the RCB innings. It didn’t take long for Dilshan and de Villiers to bring out their unusual strokeplay and the counter-attack mainly of Siddharth Trivedi .

While de Villiers hit three fours and five sixes in his blazing knock, Dilshan was not to be left behind, stroking 10 fours and one six.