: Under pressure Rajasthan Royals put forth a sharp bowling effort to restrict Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 172/8 in their Indian Premier League Eliminator here on Wednesday.Led by Trent Boult (4-0-16-1), who produced an opening spell of 3-0-6-1, RR bowlers kept taking wickets at crucial stages to control the game. The venerable Ravichandran Ashwin (4-0-19-2), having previously gone wicketless for a significant stretch, left an indelible mark with wickets Cameron Green (27) and Glenn Maxwell (0) on consecutive deliveries while Avesh Khan (3/44) also chipped in.
Rajasthan's bowling was adequately backed up by their fielders, particularly Rovman Powell, who took two stunning catches that clipped RCB's progress. Powell complemented Boult's brilliance in the powerplay with an outstanding catch, running in from deep midwicket to put in a dive in front when Faf du Plessis (17) hit one hard towards him for RR's first breakthrough. On a docile deck, Boult controlled both his swing and lines to perfection as he kept it tight for the batters to score off him.
But, if Boult kept a lid on RCB, his fellow seamers failed to follow the lead. Sandeep Sharma gave away 25 runs in his two overs while Avesh went for 17 runs in his one as RCB motored to 50/1 in the powerplay. Virat Kohli (33 off 24) looked set for a long haul but the wily Yuzvendra Chahal (1/43) cut short his stay in the eighth over, getting the RCB mainstay caught at deep midwicket where substitute fielder Donovan Ferreira too.
