Sports / IPL 2019: RCB playoff hopes over after rain ruins thrilling game vs Rajasthan Royals

RCB were knocked out of the 2019 IPL after rain washed out their match vs RR on Tuesday. RCB are placed bottom of the table with 8 points from 13 matches while RR are 7th. This is the 3rd successive season RCB failed to reach the playoffs. This turned out to be another disappointing IPL season for Royal Challengers Bangalore who had made it to the final in 2016. Rajasthan Royals face another must-win match.

The match finally started 3 hours and 26 minutes after the scheduled 8 PM start following 2 inspections by the umpires. Earlier in the evening, Rajasthan Royals skipper Steve Smith had won the toss and decided to bowl.

With the match reduced to a 5-over shootout, it was no surprise that Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers walked out to open the innings. He started off with 2 sixes off the first 2 deliveries from Varun Aaron before AB de Villiers hit Aaron for 2 boundaries.

Virat Kohli then set his sights on Shreyas Gopal and hit him for a huge six. Gopal has made it a habit of dismissing Kohli and AB de Villiers in the IPL and on Tuesday, he once again had the last laugh when he snared them both off successive deliveries.Marcus Stoinis, the power hitter from Australia, faced the hat-trick ball and he hit it straight to Steve Smith at mid-off.

Shreyas Gopal became only the 3rd Indian bowler after Yuvraj Singh and Amit Mishra to record multiple hat-tricks in the T20 format. In the 2018-19 Syed Mushtaq Trophy, Gopal had claimed a hat-trick for Karnataka against Haryana.

In response, RR openers Sanju Samson and Liam Livingstone were not as fiery as Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers and played out a few dot balls. But both Samson and Livingstone hit the poor balls for sixes and the Royals raced away to 40 off 4 overs and needed 23 off he final 2 overs.

Yuzvendra Chahal came on for RCB and removed Sanju Samson and the match was poised for an exciting finish before the rain returned. It was then decided that the game would be called off.

Royal Challengers Bangalore are placed at the bottom of the table. With 9 points from 13 matches, RCB can finish with only 11 points if they win their final match of the season against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 4.

This turned out to be another disappointing IPL season for Royal Challengers Bangalore who had made it to the final in 2016.

In 2017, RCB finished last on the points table after winning only 3 out of their 14 games. Last year, RCB finished 6th with 6 wins from 14 matches.

Before the start of the 2019 Indian Premier League, Virat Kohli had said his legacy would not be decided by his record in the Indian Premier League as a captain. 3 years ago, he scored a record-breaking 973 runs and 4 hundreds as Royal Challengers Bangalore reached the final only to lose to Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Virat Kohli became only the 2nd batsman to score 5000 runs in the IPL this year but he has been far from his best in the tournament. He scored his 5th IPL hundred during an emphatic win against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. This season, Kohli has 448 runs under his belt so far with 1 more match remaining.

AB de Villiers, the second pillar of the RCB batting line-up, scored 441 runs from 13 matches.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals face another must-win match when they take on Delhi Capitals at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Saturday.