Patidar, Harshal carry RCB to Qualifier 2

In what was an absolutely nerve-wracking, high-scoring contest, befitting the stature of an Eliminator, Royal Challengers Bangalore held their nerve, pulled off a 14-run victory over the Lucknow Super Giants, and booked a date with the Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad for the second Qualifier.

How's that for drama at the death

The final strategic time-out was taken post the 13th over with the Super Giants needing 99 runs to win off the last seven overs. KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda, who were in for quite some time, finally upped a gear. It started off with a 16-run over off Josh Hazlewood, an 18-run over next off Wanindu Hasaranga where Marcus Stoinis came in, 10 off Mohammad Siraj in the 16th over, 14 off Hasaranga in the 17th, and then the first two balls off the 18th over, bowled by Harshal Patel, were two wides, one of them even going for a boundary.

The equation was down to 35 off 18 balls, and Lucknow, all of a sudden were looking favourites. But Patel, in typically clinical fashion, struck back with a couple of dots, followed by the wicket of Stoinis, before Hazlewood returned in the 19th over to finally get rid of Rahul and kill the game.

The middle-overs stagnation

All said and done, it's the middle overs where Lucknow lost the plot. Both Rahul and Hooda, despite being set, just couldn't get going, and managed just 40 runs in the six overs from 7-13. Wanindu Hasanga, Harshal and Shahbaz Ahmed bowled two overs each, took pace off the ball, and the batsmen swung a little too hard at everything, lost their shape big time, and in the process dug themselves a hole too deep to get out from.

Rajat "Stunning" Patidar

This match is going down in history as that Rajat Patidar smash-a-thon. His, 54-ball 112, studded with 12 fours and seven sixes, was by far the most complete knock by an RCB batsman in their playoffs history. It was dominant all through. He started off with consecutive boundaries off Avesh Khan in the fifth over and then followed it up by handing Krunal Pandya a 20-run pasting in the next over. His strike-rate never dipped, despite wickets falling around him, bringing up his fifty off just 28 balls. His most severe treatment, though, was reserved for Ravi Bishnoi. KL Rahul's gamble of turning to his wrist-spinner in the 16th over backfired big time, with Patidar smoking 6, 4, 6, 4, 6, and thereby opening the gates to take his team over 200.

So how did it start?

Well, it started with a drizzle, delaying the start of play by 45 minutes. And then Mohsin Khan produced an absolute jaffa of a delivery in the first over of the game to dismiss the RCB skipper, Faf du Plessis, for a golden duck.

RCB and a slight middle-overs wobble

Virat Kohli couldn't get going. He was happy to play second-fiddle to Patidar, applauding his assault with some pretty animated fist-pumps, but then fell in the quest to get a move-on himself, for a 24-ball 25, while trying to upper-cut Avesh Khan, only to hole out by the third man boundary. Glenn Maxwell didn't last long either, walking across his stumps to try and manufacture a shot, and heaving a Krunal Pandya dart straight down backward square leg's throat.

Lucknow's dropped chances and a DK finish

Three dropped catches in four overs sum up how the wheels just fell off the Super Giants in the death overs rather well. Rahul was the first culprit, giving Dinesh Karthik a life at mid-off in the 15th over. Patidar bagged the next two lives, the first a pretty simple chance at deep mid-wicket that Hooda didn't hold on to, and the second at deep backward point, that Manan Vohra misjudged. The repercussions were fatal for LSG as RCB milked 84 off the last five overs.

Brief Scores:Royal Challengers Bangalore 207/4 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 112*, Dinesh Karthik 37*; Mohsin Khan 1-25) beat Lucknow Super Giants 193/6 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 79, Deepak Hooda 45; Josh Hazlewood 3-43) by 14 runs