Rajasthan Royals (RR) leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal bagged three crucial wickets to contain Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to 158 runs before chasing down the target convincingly to register thier first win in Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Following his man-of-the-match effort, Gopal said he is fortunate to claim wickets of such world-class batters.
Batting first, Royal Challengers Bangalore posted 158 runs on the board. Virat Kohli and Parthiv Patel got the visiting team off to a good start. The opening pair added 49 runs for the first wicket. Although Kohli looked out of his usual touch, Parthiv Patel was fluent and struck the brilliantly. However, Shreyas Gopal delivered an outstanding googly to dismiss the Bangalore skipper. With the wicket offering some turn, skipper Ajinkya Rahane continued with his leg-spinner.
He dismissed AB de Villiers in his next over and sent packing Shimron Hetmyer in the 11th over of the game. Hetmyer has struggled throughout out, and his dismissal had Royal Challengers Bangalore at 73 for three from 49 for one. But some useful knocks from Marcus Stoinis – the debutant and Moeen Ali in the last three overs helped them post 150+ runs on the board.
Rajasthan win their first game
Meanwhile, chasing a moderate total, Ajinkya Rahane and Jos Buttler got their team off to a good start. They added 60 runs for the opening wicket to set the tone for the batters to flow. However, Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli missed the trick by introducing Yuzvendra Chahal late in the attack. He struck in his very first over dismissing Ajinkya Rahane with a googly.
But Jos Buttler went strong partnering Steven Smith – promoted to bat at the top today. The English cricketer brought his half-century, but Chahal got him out soon to have Rajasthan Royals for 104 for two. Steven Smith and Rahul Tripathi dominated the Royal Challengers Bangalore to race away to the target, but Mohammad Siraj struck in the 19th over to dismiss Smith before Rahul Tripathi finished off the game with a brilliant six.
Fortunate to get such big wickets: Gopal
Shreyas Gopal speaking after his match-winning performance said it is one of his biggest moments in life. Talking about his plans, Gopal admitted that it is about hitting the right areas and sticking to your basics.
Here is what Shreyas Gopal said,
I still say I’m fortunate and lucky to get such big wickets. As a youngster, it’s not going to come every day and it’s one of my biggest moments. I was more fortunate and our plans worked today. We created a lot of pressure in the first 6 overs. They didn’t get 65-70. They had to make runs off me, I had better chance of taking wickets.
Just goes on gut feeling, nothing planned as such. It’s good to have few different balls up your sleeve and be able to execute. We (wrist spinners) get to spin the ball both sides and that’s probably an advantage. It’s about bowling better areas and sticking to areas.