After just one win in their first eight wins of the 2024 Indian Premier League, Royal Challengers Bengaluru have risen to No.7 in the points table with their third successive win in the league this year.

RCB were struggling at the bottom of the points table after a disastrous start to the year that saw them lose six games on the trot. After going down to Chennai Super Kings in the season opener, the Faf du Plessis-led team bounced back to defeat Punjab Kings at home by four wickets but it was downhill for them thereafter.

Between March 29 and April 21, RCB could not register another win, losing six in a row, including three home matches. They lost points against KKR (twice), LSG, RR, MI and SRH and were on the brink of elimination, with just two points from their first eight games.

Reeling at No.10 at the start of last week, RCB are now three spots higher, with three convincing wins in the last few days. The turnaround began with a belligerent batting performance against the mighty Sunrisers in the reverse fixture, where Rajat Patidar (50 in 20) overturned a slow start by Virat Kohli to help post 206-7 on the board.

Swapnil Singh, Karn Sharma and Cameron Green, traded to RCB at the start of the season, picked up two wickets each as SRH fell short by 35 runs. The batting came to RCB’s aid again in their first clash against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Sunday.

Fifties from Sai Sudharsan and Shahrukh Khan guided Gujarat to 200-3 in their 20 overs but du Plessis and Virat Kohli gave RCB a blistering start, as they raced away to 40 in 3.4 overs. The skipper was dismissed for a 12-ball 24 but Will Jacks, promoted to No.3, showed why he is regarded as a future star with a 41-ball 100 with as many as 10 sixes. Kohli accompanied him at the other end, whose 70* in 44 was followed by an attack on the critics questioning his strike rate.

Gujarat, who are struggling themselves, were unable to put on a show at RCB’s home ground on Saturday. The under-attack RCB bowlers raised their game as they bowled out the opposition to 147, which was convincingly chased down at the end despite a brief stutter where Bengaluru lost six wickets for 25 runs in the space of 35 balls, with the batters looking to play aggressively in a bid to increase their Net Run Rate.

With the win, RCB have lifted themselves from the bottom of the table to No.7, with eight points, the same as Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings and a Net Run Rate of -0.049. Although their chances of making the playoffs are slim, they have given themselves a mathematical chance with the hat-trick of victories. They need to not only win all their last three games but also hope other results go their way and it might be a case of peaking too late for them.

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