RR Vs RCB, IPL 2024, Eliminator: Rajasthan Royals Beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru By Four Wickets - As It Happened

Here are the highlights of the Eliminator match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru played at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. RR have entered the second Qualifier of the IPL 2024 after defeating RCB in the Eliminator. Asked to bat first, RCB managed to put 172 runs on the board after combined efforts from the batters. All RCB batters got a good start but they failed to play a big and impactful innings. Their top scorer with the bat, Rajat Patidar made 34 off 22 balls. Rajasthan's spinners kept them at bay. R Ashwin conceded just 19 runs in his four-over spell. Avesh Khan took three wickets whereas Trent Boult took one of Faf du Plessis and gave just 16 runs in his spell. Chasing a below-par target of 173 runs, the Royals added 46 runs for the first wicket before Tom Kohler-Cadmore lost his wicket. Yashasvi Jaiswal made 45 off 30 balls and Riyan Parag played a crucial 36-run knock. Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell took RR home comfortably with six balls and four wickets to spare. RR will lock horns with SRH for the coveted seat in the final on Friday. Catch the highlights of the RR Vs RCB, Eliminator match of the IPL 2024, here. (Scorecard | Streaming)

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Nandre Burger, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen, Shubham Dubey, Keshav Maharaj, Donovan Ferreira, Navdeep Saini, Shimron Hetmyer, Tanush Kotian, Abid Mushtaq, Kunal Singh Rathore

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik(w), Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Yash Dayal, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Siraj, Swapnil Singh, Anuj Rawat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Himanshu Sharma, Mayank Dagar, Alzarri Joseph, Manoj Bhandage, Akash Deep, Saurav Chauhan, Rajan Kumar, Tom Curran

The pitch is different from the Qualifier 1 and has a lot more grass on it. It looks firm and may help the seams a bit more in the initial overs. The square boundary is 61 and 68 metres respectively whereas the straight one is at 73 metres. A high-scoring game is on the cards. There is no sign of dew so chasing the target could be better for the team winning the toss.

The temperature is 43 degrees Celsius at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and according to weather forecast reports, there is zero chance of precipitation.

Rajasthan Royals have won the toss and have opted to field

Playing XIs:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Rajat Patidar, Cameron Green, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik(w), Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Siraj, Lockie Ferguson

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Swapnil Singh, Anuj Rawat, Suyash Prabhudessai, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Himanshu Sharma

Rajasthan Royals: Shubham Dubey, Donovan Ferreira, Nandre Burger, Shimron Hetmyer, Tanush Kotian

Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis opened the batting for RCB and Trent Boult opened the bowling attack of Rajasthan Royals. He gave just two runs from the first over.

RCB - 2/0 (1)

Trent Boult has been very effective so far in the Eliminator. Sanju Samson let him bowl his three overs on the trot and he had conceded just six runs in those overs. When he came to bowl his third over, Faf played a shot in the mid-wicket region where Rovman Powell plunged forward to take a screamer! RCB lost their first wicket in the fifth over.

RCB - 37/1 (5)

Yuzvendra Chahal was introduced into the attack in the eighth over and he struck on the second delivery. He dismissed Virat Kohli and conceded just two runs in his first over of the spell.

RCB - 58/2 (8)

Rajat Patidar and Cameron Green are adding runs on the crease. Both have been very patient so far and looking to extract runs. If they manage to not lose any more wickets, RCB can put up a big total.

RCB - 95/2 (12)

Sandeep Sharma has not been very successful with the ball today and was called to bowl the 17th over as the death overs approached. DK started with a boundary but he managed to finish the over without any more boundary but ended up conceding 10 runs from the over.

RCB - 144/5 (17)

Mahipal Lomror hit a few boundaries to get the scorecard moving, but it was Swapnil Singh and Karn Sharma in the end who took the score to 172 runs after 20 overs. Rajasthan Royals need 173 runs to win the match.

RCB - 172/8 (20)

Brief Score: RCB - 172/8 (20)

Rajat Patidar - 34 (22), Virat Kohli - 33 (24) | Avesh Khan: (4-0-44-3)

Rajasthan Royals' opening batting pair of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Tom Kohler-Cadmore opened the batting and Swapnil Singh started with the first over for RCB. He conceded just two runs from his over. Identical start from RR.

RR -2/0 (1)

Lockie Ferguson was introduced into the attack in the sixth over and he broke the first-wicket partnership on the third delivery. He bowled Tom Kohler-Cadmore to provide RCB with the much-needed breakthrough.

RR - 47/1 (6)

Cameron Green was introduced into the attack in the 10th over and he struck with the wicket of set batter Yashasvi Jaiswal on the second delivery. Karna Sharma got Sanju Samson stumped out with a wide delivery in the next over.

RR - 98/3 (11)

Cameron Green who had bowled a fabulous spell of 3-0-11-1 was brought back into the attack and Shimron Hetmyer welcomed him with a massive six. Then Riyan Parag smashed a six then a four to collect 17 runs from the over.

RR - 143/4 (16)

With 12 runs needed in the last two overs, Lockie Ferguson was given the ball to defend that. Rovman Powell smashed back-to-back boundaries to put all hopes down for RCB. But Ferguson managed to dot the next three deliveries. Powell hit a six on the last delivery of the 19th over to win the match with four wickets and six balls to spare.

RR - 174/6 (19)

Rajasthan Royals beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by four wickets to enter the second Qualifier where they are set to face Sunrisers Hyderabad for the seat in the final.

With the dew coming, we felt we were short with the bat. Did think we were 20 runs shy of what was a good score. Credit to the boys - they fought really well. That's all you can ask for. If you look at naturally assessing the pitch and conditions, you would say it's a 180 pitch because it was swinging upfront and was quite slow. But what we've found out this season, with the impact player, the par score isn't enough any more. Also with the dew coming in. Extremely proud. Lot of teams - their wheels would've fallen off after 1 from 9. To come back like that, six games in a row, takes a lot of heart and character. We weren't special tonight in terms of pushing that extra 20 runs with the bat.

What cricket and life has taught us is we will have some good and some really bad phases. But we need to have the character to bounce back. Really happy with the way we fielded, we batted and we bowled today. Credit to the bowlers, they are always looking at what the opposition batters would do and what fields to set. Credit goes to Sanga and bowling coach Bond as well. They've spent a lot of time in hotel rooms discussing these things. They are 22 each, so is Jurel. With very little experience, the way they are performing at this level is amazing. I'm not a 100% actually. There is a bug in the dressing room, lots of coughs and a lot of people are a bit unwell. Rovman finished that off well. I think we have a travel day and rest now, looking forward to the next game.

We haven't done very well in the last few games. We didn't put par scores and we lost Buttler, and Hetmyer was injured. Today's win was important. We were a bit rusty chasing it, but this win will give us some confidence. In the first half, I felt my body wasn't moving too well for the first half of the season. I had an abdomen injury as well. I am ageing as well. To come into the tournament from Test cricket was difficult, I needed some time to get that bowling rhythm. But once you have committed to your franchise, you want to go through with the season. I think we hit the right lengths, the way Boult was bowling, he got a bit of swing and seam movement. In the second innings, I don't think there was a lot of dew. I think there were some exceptional shots from our boys to get that chase. I think our greatest strength is the exuberance of youth and the experience we have got to support that. Now that Hettie is backing, and Rovman got a few boundaries today as well. We've got Keshav sitting outside. We have the right momentum for this team going forward.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru have been knocked out of the tournament following their four-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals in Eliminator on Wednesday. We will also be taking your leave now. Thanks and Goodnight!