It’s the battle of Royals on a Super Saturday (May 19) as Rajasthan Royals are hosting the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Given the fact that both sides are tied on 12 points after 13 matches, a win here will secure the place for either of them in the playoffs.
Rajasthan skipper Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and elected to bat first. The experiment to open with Jofra Archer didn’t pan out well for RR as Umesh Yadav removed him in the second over for a four-ball duck.
Rahul Tripathi along with Rahane forged a 99-run stand for the second wicket to bring Rajasthan out of trouble. However, Umesh’s double strike in the 14th over once again dented inaugural IPL champions.
While Yadav dismissed Rahane for 33, he didn’t let Sanju Samson open his account. After the double blow, Heinrich Klaasen joined Tripathi at the crease and the duo added 48 runs for the fourth wicket. While Klaasen made 32 runs off 21 balls, Tripathi remained not out on 58-ball 80 (5 fours and 3 sixes).
Umesh Yadav finished with the figures of 3 for 25 in his 4 overs as RCB eventually restricted RR to 164/5 in 20 overs.
Twitterati were impressed to see yet another mesmerizing spell of bowling from Umesh Yadav while they also lauded Rahul Tripathi’s stellar effort with the bat.
Here are some of the top tweets after the first innings:
So Archer won the lucky draw to be opener today. Don't know who whacks Ajinkya's raffle ticket.
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) May 19, 2018
Stars of match yet? Rahul Tripathi and Umesh Yadav.Both have forced their way into forefront with compelling performances in recent matches
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 19, 2018
Fifth time Umesh has picked two or more wickets in one over. Once he’s taken three in an over. He’s the biggest star of #RCB this #IPL #RRvRCB
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 19, 2018
Excellent fielding position for Sanju Samson! That short mid wicket- and Sanju goes first ball. ???? #RR #RCB #IPL2018
— RK (@RK_sports) May 19, 2018
This isn't a bad score at all from #RR. Will be interesting to see if the track slows down a bit more. Will be a test for the great class in the #RCB line-up.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 19, 2018
Ajinkya Rahane not opening for RR has been the biggest mystery for me #IPL2018 . Wonder if it’s his decision or the think tank’s ?
— zaheer khan (@ImZaheer) May 19, 2018