Indian T20 League: Bangalore crush Rajasthan by seven wickets

Bangalore put one foot into the playoffs after a comfortable victory over Rajasthan at Dubai International Stadium on Wednesday. It was Bangalore’s second successive win since the six-wicket defeat against Chennai. They have established a four-point lead over Kolkata and Mumbai. With their seventh defeat this season, Rajasthan are heading towards a third playoffs-less season. The Jaipur-based team have picked up only one win from four games in the UAE leg.

Harshal Patel was among the wickets for Bangalore in their seventh win of the season. The medium-pacer grabbed three wickets in the last over of Rajasthan’s innings. The spin duo Yuzvendra Chahal and Shahbaz Ahmed did most of the damage, taking four wickets between them. Glenn Maxwell was the top-scorer for Bangalore with his fourth half-century this season, while Rajasthan opening batsman Evin Lewis, too, struck a fifty.

A stellar half-century

Rajasthan openers made a fantastic start after being put in to bat first by Virat Kohli. They brought up 50 in the fifth over as Lewis crushed Maxwell and debutant George Garton, who replaced Kyle Jamieson. He scored 13 runs in the part-time spinner’s first over and 18 off the pacer. Fellow opener Yashasvi Jaiswal was no mere spectator. The youngster hit the first four and six of the match.

Dan Christian saw Jaiswal scoring two fours in his opening over. The Bangalore bowlers were struggling and kept leaking runs. However, in the second ball of the ninth over, Christian found the breakthrough. Mohammed Siraj took a good catch at mid-off to end Jaiswal’s quickfire knock of 31. Both batsmen put together 77 for the opening wicket. Meanwhile, Lewis hammered back-to-back fours and reached his half-century in 31 balls.

9/49 in 8.5 overs

Sanju Samson lofted the ball over deep extra cover and registered his first six. Garton, who went for plenty in his second over, removed Lewis for 58. He skied the ball to wicket-keeper K S Bharat, who covered a lot of ground to grab the prize wicket. Samson ended Garton’s over by dispatching the ball over deep backward square leg. However, Rajasthan lost their way after losing three quick wickets.

Mahipal Lomror came down the track but missed the ball, and Bharat completed an easy stumping. Samson and Rahul Tewatia gifted Shahbaz two wickets in his first over. Both holed out to Devdutt Padikkal. From 100/1, Rajasthan plunged to 117/5. Liam Livingstone’s stay, too, didn’t last long. De Villiers took a comfortable catch at long-on to dismiss the Englishman. Harshal came close to another hat-trick as Rajasthan lost three wickets in the final over and settled for 149/9 in 20 overs.

Bangalore in control

Kohli and Padikkal made a quickfire start. Chris Morris saw the Bangalore captain score three fours off the opening six balls of the run chase, while Kartik Tyagi conceded 14 runs in his first over. They moved to 26/0 after two overs. Mustafizur Rahman, too, struggled to find his rhythm and conceded two fours. Both batsmen looked certain to register a big knock. The Bangladesh pacer broke the opening stand with the wicket of Padikkal. He cleaned up the youngster for 22.

Rajasthan picked up a second wicket courtesy of a run-out. Kohli, on 25, ran a single off a misfield, but Riyan Parag effected a direct hit at the non-striker’s end. The replays showed Kohli short of the crease. The loss of the opening pair in the space of nine balls didn’t affect the scoring rate. Maxwell and Bharat managed to score more than six runs per over. Bangalore reached 79/2 at the halfway mark of the run chase..

50* off 30 balls

Bharat upped the tempo after dealing in singles early in his innings. He struck fours off Lomror and Tewatia and sent the ball into the stands in Morris’ third over. Maxwell, too, punished the Rajasthan bowlers. Mustafizur broke a partnership for the second time in the match. Bharat pulled the ball straight into the hands of substitute fielder Anuj Rawat at fine leg. Bangalore needed just 23 from four overs.

Maxwell piled misery on Morris by hitting a six over deep midwicket and scoring three fours in four deliveries. He brought up his half-century in just 30 balls. With one needed, De Villiers steered the ball to deep square leg for four runs. It was a dominant performance from Bangalore, who face Punjab on Sunday. Meanwhile, Rajasthan meet table-topper Chennai on Saturday.

Rajasthan 149/9 in 20 overs (E Lewis 58, Y Jaiswal 31; H Patel 3/34, Y Chahal 2/18)

Bangalore 153/3 in 17.1 overs (G Maxwell 50*, K S Bharat 44; M Rahman 2/20)