Falling off a cliff When Rajasthan Royals are bad, they are abysmal. One thought the home game against Gujarat Titans, where they were bowled out for 118 batting first was disastrous, till one saw their capitulation for exactly half that score against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The loss of two points was bad enough, but the dent these embarrassing displays have on their net run rate cannot be underestimated. With just one match left for them in the league phase, it would be a very optimistic Royals fan who would give them any chance of making the playoffs, as they need a whole lot of other results to go their way. They were one of the better sides in the first phase of the tournament, but would be left to rue their fall in standards as the business end of the league approached. That they barely made it past the halfway mark of a T20 innings on Sunday tells its own abject story. - Tushar Bhaduri Comical run It ended in laughs, but it could have easily ended up in tears.Virat Kohli back foot-punched Adam Zampa’s first ball of the second over, and immediately teed off. So did his partner Faf du Plessis. Abruptly, both realised that Kohli had timed the ball better than he had thought and Yashaswi Jaiswal was quick to gather the ball. Both suddenly froze, as though choreographed. Nonetheless, they continued the run rather than retreating to the crease. Already this edition of the IPL has seen some comical run outs. Not this time, though. Jaiswal quickly hurled the ball back to the keeper, but it landed on the adjoining pitch on the square and bounced awkwardly on Sanju Samson, who missed the ball. And just in time, Du Plessis, all of 36, dived desperately to make the ground, so desperate that he ended up rolling on the ground in the momentum of the dive. Kohli too had put in a dive. Both sprung back on their feet and accused, in jest, each other of ball watching. All’s well that ends well. - Sandip G As special as it gets 😃👌🏻 𝘼𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 ft. @imVkohli & @ybj_19 👏🏻👏🏻#TATAIPL | #RRvRCB | @RCBTweets | @rajasthanroyals pic.twitter.com/gkdyCB3hXf — IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 14, 2023 A different beat Blistering starts have been the theme this season. Openers striking boundaries from the first ball and looking to maximise the field restrictions. RCB have been exceptional, averaging 55.3 runs in 11 games, the third best scoring rate after Rajasthan Royals (56.3) and Chennai Super Kings (56.9). No batsman has scored more in this phase than Du Plessis (251), and only Ajinkya Rahane has a better strike than him. Yet, in Jaipur the start was cautious, approach more old-fashioned, as the surface was a tad slow, the new ball holding off the surface, and Sandeep Sharma and Adam Zampa hitting tight lengths. So boundaries dried up—just three fours, one of them edged, and a six were all they could manage. Grasping the nature of the pitch, both Du Plessis and Kohli relied on singles and twos and eschewed risky shots in their 50-run stand that consumed seven overs. - Sandip G Show-stopper Maxi One would have been forgiven to mistake it for the middle overs of a 50-over game – runs coming mostly in singles, with the odd boundary thrown in. The pitch didn't seem conducive for big shots but something had to give, especially with Glenn Maxwell at the crease. So the Big Show took matters into his own hands against the usually relaible Sandeep Sharma. The veteran medium pacer was the villain of the piece with a last-ball no-ball against Sunrisers Hyderabad, but seemed to have put that behind. He was in his groove, but Maxwell got the better of him by stepping down the track and reverse-swatting a short ball over the fielder inside the circle. The next ball saw a more nuanced shot, as the Australian got on his toes, opened the bat face, and glided one over backward point. The next over saw a trademark straight hit towards the sight-screen for six, signalling that it was 'Go' Time. Or possibly, 'Show' Time. - Tushar Bhaduri Not pulling his weight It's tough to decide whether Dinesh Karthik is a part-time cricketer or part-time commentator these days. His exploits in the IPL paved the way for his return to the national side. But this season has been a sobering experience for the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman. His finishing skills have diminished and his reliability behind the stumps can also be questioned: the last-ball fumble against Lucknow Super Giants that allowed them to win that crazy game coming readily to mind. The 12 matches this season have not seen him provide the middle-order stability that Royal Challengers Bangalore so crave – neither in the form of runs nor strike rate at the business end of an innings. On Sunday, he came to bat when the team had lost two back-to-back wickets. His first ball, against leggie Adam Zampa, elicited a tentative inside edge. On the second, he was caught on the crease when he probably should have been forward. The length ball on middle and leg skid through and hit him plumb in front, with Karthik's final position a little akin to French cricket. - Tushar Bhaduri Blame the shot selection For 20 overs, Rajasthan Royals' batsmen had the time to study the pitch, and how Faf du Plessis and Virat Kohli went about in the Powerplay. It was on the slower side with the ball stopping at batsmen, thus not conducive to hit through the line or trust the bounce and cut, especially if you are new to the crease. They learned it the hard and cruel way. All their top three batsmen perished this way—Yashasvi Jaiswal when trying to flay Mohammed Siraj over mid-off, Jos Buttler when trying to hack the ball a short ball through point and Sanju Samson when attempting a hideous heave across the stumps off a hard length ball. All three times the batsmen were too early and too committed to the strokes. Blame not the pitch but their shot selection. - Sandip G Too tough for Root It was not a situation tailor-made for a batsman having his first hit in the IPL, but if anyone could have risen above the conditions and match situation, it had to be Joe Root. The England stalwart had made his IPL debut two games earlier, but didn't get a chance to bat. At the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Sunday, his teammates didn't allow him an easy initiation. Root walked in at 6/2 after the openers were sent back in double quick time, and saw Sanju Samson and Devdutt Padikkal follow them soon after. That he was feeling the pressure could be seen in the lap over short fine leg for four, a ball after he had survived an LBW verdict on review. But if anyone had thought that Root would lead a rescue act, they would be mistaken. A slower yorker from Wayne Parnell had him falling over as the on-field umpire gave him out the second time. Only this time, there was no reprieve on review. - Tushar Bhaduri
