In the end, rain helped nobody. Royal Challengers Bangalore were officially eliminated from play-off contention after the abandonment on Tuesday, April 29. Rajasthan Royals’ pathway to qualification is now significantly harder, having had to settle for just a point.
Image credit: AFP
And the fans? Well, they still had to battle the infamous Bangalore traffic on their way home, having had to brave the rain and sit through the ignominy of watching a Bangalore boy take a hat-trick against a Bangalore team in, well, Bangalore.
You couldn’t make it up.
What’s hot
An ecstatic Shreyas Gopal after picking up a hat-trick at his home turf ?? pic.twitter.com/UG1hufYFiQ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 30, 2019
Shreyas Gopal. Few would have guessed he would be the bogey man for Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. But he is. Having removed the pair in their clash in Jaipur earlier in the season, Gopal was at it again. This time, he did it better, adding the scalp of Marcus Stoinis to complete his first IPL hat-trick.
It could all have been so different had he not managed to do that – Virat Kohli had teed off, scoring a seven-ball 25, with the first over of the match going for 23 runs. Gopal did beautifully to wrestle Rajasthan back into contention – he first had Kohli caught at long-on, followed that up with he scalp of de Villiers, forcing a mis-timed shot to extra cover, and when Stoinis holed out, his moment was complete.
He ended with 3-12 in his one over. It’s just a shame it was all for nothing.
What’s not
“Rain makes Bangalore quite lovely, doesn’t it Virat?”
– Shreyas Gopal is really bad at polite conversation, but if his India hopes are to be fulfilled, he needs to smooth things over with the captain.
What’s next
Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Capitals. The battle for the top two spots are on. Delhi ousted Chennai from the top position, something the three-time champions didn’t see coming. It should be interesting, to say the least.
