Kolkata: Royal Challengers Bangalore beat newcomers Lucknow Super Giants by 14 runs. Rajat Patidar’s maiden IPL century and Dinesh Karthik’s brilliant knock propelled RCB to 207/4 in 20 overs at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Wednesday.
The 208-run goal was too much for KL Rahul and his teammates, who were defeated by 14 runs. Patidar also became the sixth batter in the IPL’s knockout stages to make a century, joining Shane Watson, Murali Vijay, Virender Sehwag, and Wriddhiman Saha.
LSG skipper KL Rahul started the innings and remained in contention until the 19th over when Shahbaz Ahmed took a clean catch in Josh Hazlewood’s over to put an end to the newly-formed LSG’s dreams of winning their first cup. Apart from KL’s 79, Deepak Hooda’s 45 and crucial partnership with the skipper shifted the match in LSG’s favor, giving the RCB dugout a scare.
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Rahul, who was born in Bangalore, also believed that LSG let themselves down on the field with some bad fielding.
“It’s quite obvious the reasons why we didn’t win the game. We let ourselves down in the field. The difference between the teams was Patidar’s knock. When a player from the top ends up playing a good knock, the team ends up winning,” Rahul was quoted as saying after the match.
LSG’s campaign in IPL 2022 ended after the defeat in the Eliminator. While RCB will play against Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Thursday for the ticket to the finale. Whoever wins tonight would take on Gujarat Titans (GT) in the IPL 2022 finale.
