‘A Star is born’: Rajat Patidar sets up a thrilling win for Bangalore against Lucknow in the Eliminator

The first knockout of the Indian T20 League 2022, the Eliminator saw Lucknow and Bangalore take the field against each other. The venue of the match was the iconic Eden Gardens stadium in Kolkata.

Lucknow won the toss and decided to bowl. KL Rahul’s side had a dream start as they got the wicket of Faf du Plessis (0 of 1). Virat Kohli tried to build his innings alongside Rajat Patidar who looked in good touch from the very beginning of his innings. The duo stitched a partnership of 66 runs before Kohli (25 of 24) was dismissed by Avesh Khan. After this Bangalore lost two more wickets in the form of Glenn Maxwell (9 of 10) and Mahipal Lomror (14 of 9), but Patidar looked determined and resolute at the other end. Dinesh Karthik joined Patidar in the middle and played a perfect supporting role to the youngster at the other end. Patidar played classy shots all around the ground and kept the momentum of the innings in his team’s favor. The duo built a partnership of 92 runs of 47 balls, where Patidar was the dominating partner. Dinesh Karthik remained unbeaten on 37 of 23 balls, while Patidar stayed not out at a brilliantly played 112 runs off 54 balls. He hit 12 fours and 7 delightful sixes during his stay. Bangalore on the back of Patidar’s brilliant exploits reached a mammoth total of 207 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in their 20 overs. Mohsin Khan was the pick of the bowlers for Lucknow, conceding only 25 runs off his 4 overs and picking up a wicket.

Lucknow began their chase with the big loss of Quinton de Kock (6 of 5) in the first over of the innings. KL Rahul was looking in sublime touch and keeping up with the scoring rate while they lost one more wicket in the form of  Manan Vohra (19 of 11) in the fifth over. At the end of the powerplays Lucknow was 62 for 2 and Rahul was looking in sublime form. Along with Deepak Hooda he progressed steadily for the next few overs building the foundation for the chase. After the end of 10th over of the innings Lucknow was 89 for 2 and required to 119 runs off the last 60 balls. KL Rahul continued steadily for some more overs, but this led to the required rate slowly creeping up. This induced Deepak Hooda (45 of 26) to take some risks. He slammed two sixes of Wanindu Hasaranga in the 15th over but fell to the Sri Lankan leg spinner in the same over. As the over concluded Lucknow was 143 for 3 and required 65 runs off the last five overs.

KL Rahul was looking settled in the middle and was slowly shifting gears while Stoinis showed glimpse of good batting form. The match was in balance with Lucknow needing 13 runs per over at the stage. Rahul was going strong at one end and Lucknow was getting closer to a win when Harshal Patel provided a twist. He picked up the wicket Marcus Stoinis (9 of 9) in the 18th over. This meant that the majority of the remaining task was to be done by KL Rahul. Lucknow needed 33 runs off the last 2 overs. But it was Jos Hazlewood who provided the big breakthrough of KL Rahul (79 of 58) in the 19th over and followed it up with that of Krunal Pandya in the very next ball. This completely shifted the momentum of the match in Bangalore’s favor. Lucknow ultimately managed a total of 193 for 6  and lost the match by 14 runs . With the loss KL Rahul’s side gets eliminated from the 15th edition of the tournament. Bangalore will now be playing against Rajasthan in  Qualifier 2 at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on 27th May, Friday.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the match. 

Serious hitting by Rajat Patidar and nicely supported by @DineshKarthik.

It’s a great total but given how the surface is playing and the fast outfield, I feel it’ll be a close game.
Well played by @rcbtweets in the first half! #Eliminator pic.twitter.com/NhkErPqv86

— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) May 25, 2022

https://twitter.com/RCBTweets/status/1529502565154447360?s=20&t=_i4ezS1Q_S5aUcLRV5tyKQ

https://twitter.com/RCBTweets/status/1529500877135958017?s=20&t=_i4ezS1Q_S5aUcLRV5tyKQ

https://twitter.com/RCBTweets/status/1529501289066860545?s=20&t=_i4ezS1Q_S5aUcLRV5tyKQ

https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh/status/1529500134811537408?s=20&t=_i4ezS1Q_S5aUcLRV5tyKQ

Came in as a replacement for Karnataka Batsman Luvnith Sisodia and is today giving RCB more than a chance to win this eliminator with his century. Take a bow Rajat Patidar you made all of us proud today. #RCBvsLSG #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/W4susn3obJ

— Amit Mishra (@MishiAmit) May 25, 2022

Rajat Patidar .. talk about producing when it really counts .. Incredible innings .. #RCB #IPL2022

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 25, 2022

Rajat Patidar played every role in the book today. Came in with the new ball still fresh, batted in the middle overs to overshadow the fancied stars and then finished on a high too. Just one man has made all the difference for #RCB today. #LSGvsRCB

— Rahul Rawat (@rawatrahul9) May 25, 2022

https://twitter.com/kingashu1008/status/1529499841729966082?s=20&t=_i4ezS1Q_S5aUcLRV5tyKQ

https://twitter.com/imasaikiran/status/1529529511552790528?s=20&t=VIS7MoCV_fBIUv5Nz45anw

I must have said "2 over baaki hai Harshal Patel ke" 10 times by now, come on Harshal show why you have been RCB's MVP since last season #LSGvsRCB #IPL2022

— Aditya Mittal (@mittal_im) May 25, 2022

In the next IPL, they should reduce the league matches and increase the play off matches.#LSGvsRCB

— Gaurav Sethi (@BoredCricket) May 25, 2022

Nail Biting match..Too much Stress#LSGvRCB #LSGvsRCB #IPL2022

— Harsh Kumar (@mistri_hk) May 25, 2022

https://twitter.com/VVSLaxman281/status/1529523342549880832?s=20&t=VIS7MoCV_fBIUv5Nz45anw

https://twitter.com/Ajith_tweets/status/1529534391386513408?s=20&t=VIS7MoCV_fBIUv5Nz45anw

Never write off Australians. They come to clutch just when you think it’s all over. Get in, Josh Hazlewood.#LSGvRCB

— Prajakta (@18prajakta) May 25, 2022

Ticket to #Ahmedabad for @RCBTweets #RajatPatidar you nailed it#RCB#RCBvLSG #TATAIPL2022 pic.twitter.com/2WidhANCxT

— Munaf Patel (@munafpa99881129) May 25, 2022

https://twitter.com/WisdenIndia/status/1529496332939198464?s=20&t=VIS7MoCV_fBIUv5Nz45anw