DRS, May 23: No dream farewell for Karthik, Ashwin turns it around & Parag’s perfect knock

17 years and counting. RCB fans, and the players will have to wait for yet another year to get their hands on the coveted IPL trophy. On Wednesday, RR had enough in the tank to make to the qualifier, and post a win by four wickets. And with that, a million hopes came crashing down.

Of course, after six wins in six matches, RCB made it to the playoffs, despite having a 0.1% chance of going through. But clearly RR was the better side on the day. Despite the best efforts of Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror and Rajat Patidar, it wasn’t enough on the day. As for RR, Ashwin, Yashaswi Jaiswal and Avesh Khan sealed the deal.

R Ashwin Sets the Tone

Without any doubt, the day just belonged to veteran Ashwin, who returned with figures of 2/19 in his four overs. And his victims were Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell. Moreover, the biggest damage caused by his was his miserly spell that restricted RCB to 172/8. A brilliant spell by the man.

Virat Kohli Tries, Fails in Eliminator Again

33 from 24 deliveries isn’t what you expect from Kohli, that too in a crucial fixture. But once again, as was the case in other four Eliminators for RCB, Kohli couldn’t impress. And as a result, his side fell short of making it to the qualifier. But in his innings, till when it lasted, he looked solid.

Maxwell & Ducks – The Saga Continues

Glenn Maxwell was out without disturbing the scorers. This was his fourth duck in the IPL 2024 season, and that means, he has 18 ducks overall in the tournament. He sits pretty on the top along with Dinesh Karthik, 18 ducks again.

Is Dinesh Karthik Retiring?

After the match got over, RCB keeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik got a guard of honour from his teammates. Why would that be? Is he retiring from IPL or competitive cricket? No formal announcement has been made so far, but one doesn’t know. He is 38; so whether he is done or not, we’ll have to wait to find out.

Riyan Parag Continues

In 15 matches now, Parag has 567 runs, and is second on the list of orange cap holder. In the Eliminator, Parag had a decent outing with the bat scoring 36 from 26, when RR were in a spot of bother at 86/3. But he came good once again, and strung a crucial partnership with Shimron Hetmyer.

SRK, Ahmedabad Heat & Dehydration

As per various reports, Shah Rukh Khan was admitted to a hospital in Ahmedabad, after he suffered dehydration. It might have come after excessive celebration after KKR beat SRH to make to IPL 2024 final. The report claimed that he partied late with the team.