RCB vs RR: A dream tore into million pieces again. Stalled by another year. The Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have lost three finals in the previous years, failed to reach their fourth one as the Rajasthan Royals belligerently knocked them out in the Qualifier 2 on Friday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
3-wicket hauls each from Prasidh Krishna and Obed McCoy restricted RCB to a below-par total of 157, which the Royals chased down comfortably with 7 wickets and 11 balls in hand as Jos Buttler struck his fourth century of the season – only the second batsman to do so after Virat Kohli in 2016 – hammering 106* runs from 60 balls.
A tough pill to swallow having come this far, but we fought hard and gave it our everything.
We’re always grateful for the support you’ve shown us and we look forward to the same next year!
#PlayBold #WeAreChallengers #IPL2022 #Mission2022 #RCB #ನಮ್ಮRCB #PlayOffs #RRvRCB pic.twitter.com/RhoOQSU3dW
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) May 27, 2022
In the last two seasons, RCB were knocked out in the Eliminator match. This year, Rajat Patidar’s stunning maiden IPL ton, and some sloppy batting and fielding performances by the Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator saw Faf du Plessis‘ team emerge victorious by a small margin of 14 runs.
But there were holes in their team and shortcomings in the batting department which were expected to be exposed going forward. Which is exactly what happened against RR as their pacers didn’t give an inch when Chahal and Ashwin were under pressure of having an unremarkable day together.
For the third straight season – and for the fifth time overall – RCB have qualified for the playoffs but failed to reach the final, apart from the three instances when they lost in the final. They have been good in parts and sporadically throughout the season, but not good enough to actually make a strong claim to the title.
Renowned Twitter user Trendulkar, who has over a million followers, gave a hilarious new name to RCB: “Royally Challenged Bangalore”
Royally Challenged Bangalore.
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) May 27, 2022
