Royal Challengers Bangalore made it to the IPL 2022 playoffs after Mumbai Indians did them a huge favour by beating Delhi Capitals by five wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore made it to the IPL 2022 playoffs after Mumbai Indians did them a huge favour by beating Delhi Capitals by five wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Saturday night. Had DC beaten Mumbai, they would have qualified for the playoffs while RCB would have missed out. But a 34-run blitz from Tim David, juxtaposed with some strange decisions from DC, saw MI emerge victorious. It was no surprise that the RCB team was over the moon with the result and some of the players, including former skipper Virat Kohli took to social media to share their elation.
After an eventful 60 days of gruelling cricket, the final four contenders for the IPL 2022 playoffs have now been confirmed. Royal Challengers Bangalore have joined Gujarat Titans, Lucknow Super Giants, and Rajasthan Royals to play in the knockout stage of the tournament. The Challengers booked the fourth and final playoff spot following Mumbai Indians' victory over Delhi Capitals on Saturday. The Faf du Plessis-led side will now lock horns against Lucknow Super Giants in Eliminator 1 in Kolkata on May 25.
Gujarat Titans were the first franchise to qualify for IPL 2022 playoffs after the Hardik Pandya-led side defeated Lucknow Super Giants to climb to the top spot in the points table. Lucknow were the second franchise to make it to the knockout stage of the competition following a last-ball thriller against Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday. Rajasthan Royals booked their place in the final after registering a five-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings on Friday.
Royal Challengers Bangalore did their part by defeating Gujarat Titans in their final league stage encounter on Thursday. The Men in Red & Gold, however, had to wait for the outcome of the Mumbai vs. Delhi game to find out their fate in the IPL 2022. To make the playoffs, RCB needed Mumbai to win their final game against Delhi Capitals. Mumbai Indians defeated Delhi by 5 wickets, ensuring that RCB qualified for the playoffs.The success of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), or the lack of it, has more or less invariably been associated with the performance graph of their former skipper Virat Kohli. It was no surprise therefore that their crucial win over table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT) had a lot to do with Kohli’s best performance in IPL 2022, a knock that should reinvigorate RCB’s once-tottering campaign, not to mention the batter’s own confidence.
At the same time, the Bengaluru side left their fate in others’ hands, namely Delhi Capitals (DC), who just could not find enough ammunition when it mattered most, and RCB are now in the round of reckoning.
Three times in IPL 2022 we saw Kohli walk back with a golden duck against his name, and on the third occasion, as he walked back, it seemed like Kohli was having a conversation with the greater powers that decide our lives. “Give me a break”, seemed to be the prayer, and as it stands, RCB and the batter have got a break that could make them the most dangerous of sides in the fray now.
Kohli began to get some runs in the latter stage group matches, but his strike rate was modest, to say the least. But no such hang-ups in the most crucial of games against GT on 19 May. A 73 off 54 balls with a strike rate of above 135 was all that was needed from Kohli. There were contributions from the men who need to chip in consistently – skipper Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell – and RCB reached that magic 16-point mark, which is where the cut-off eventually landed.
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