RCB need a miracle to get through from here.
Kolkata: Things went from bad to worse for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru as they registered their seventh defeat of the season in eight matches. The RCB side lost to KKR by a run on Sunday at the Eden Gardens after controlling the majority of the chase. Despite the loss versus the Knight Riders, the Royal Challengers are not officially out of the Playoff race. But the problem now is, even of they win their remaining games they may not get through as it has become a 10-team tournament. Eight wins are needed to safely secure a berth.
From IPL 2018 to 2021, the fourth team had 14 points and did qualify for the playoffs. In 2019, Sunrisers Hyderabad qualified with just 12 points.
RCB need a miracle to get through from here.
Earlier, brilliant half-centuries by Will Jacks and Rajat Patidar were not enough for Royal Challengers Bengaluru as they succumbed to an agonizing one-run defeat to Knight Riders. Jacks (55, 32b, 4×5, 5×6) and Patidar (52, 23b, 3×4, 5×6) kept RCB in hunt for but they could not chase down a daunting 223 target set by the KKR. RCB ended up at 221 all out despite a last over blitz by Karn Sharma (20, 7b, 3×6). Andre Russell grabbed three wickets (3/25) while Sunil Narine and Harshit Rana grabbed two wickets apiece for the home side.
Put into bat first, skipper Shreyas Iyer’s composed half-century and opener Phil Salt’s initial blitzkrieg enabled KKR to score 222/6. Salt smashed 48 off 16 balls while skipper Iyer scored 50 off 36 balls. Ramandeep Singh (24) and Andre Russell (27) took the KKR total past the 220-run mark. Cameron Green was the most successful bowler for RCB with figures of 2/35.