In a nutshell
Royal Challengers Bangalore could not chase down 162-run target against Rising Pune Supergiant at the M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore. It was the record lowest total defend by a visiting team in Bangalore. Batting first, Pune lost five wickets for three runs to be 130/7 before Manoj Tiwary made 11-ball 27 to push them to 161/8. Bangalore never got going and lost regular wickets as Pune pacers managed to dry up the runs. The pressure mounted on Bangalore and they lost batsmen trying to hit some big shot. Stokes took three wickets for 18 runs in his four overs.
As is evident from our win probability graph (see the graph here), Pune kept a consistent pressure on RCB to slowly but steadily increase their win probability.
Find the entire quantitative summary here.
How it unfolded
Thakur claimed opener Mandeep Singh for a duck and Virat Kohli failed to convert the start by falling on 28. AB de Villiers (29) was the key after Kohli’s dismissal but fell to Tahir when MS Dhoni did a brilliant stumping.
Kedar Jadhav (18), Shane Watson (14) and Stuart Binny (18) did get going but couldn’t hang around till the end to see through Bangalore home.
Earlier, Pune revived from a late batting collapse but managed to post a competitive total of 161 for eight in 20 overs.
Rahul Tripathi (31) and Ajinkya Rahane (30) with their 63-run opening stand provided Pune a solid start and then a partnership between Steve Smith (27) and MS Dhoni (28) gave them hope for a big total before both the batsmen were dismissed off successive deliveries. After Dhoni and Smith dismissals, Pune lost three more wickets in quick succession and struggling for a good total. However, Manoj Tiwary came to the rescue with a rapid 11-ball 27, as Pune scampered to a decent score. Dhoni and Smith were bowled off successive deliveries by Shane Watson and Aravind respectively, leaving Pune at 127 for 4 in 16.1 overs. Five deliveries later, Aravind removed Daniel Christian (1). The following over saw Adam Milne dismissing Ben Stokes (2) and Shardul Thakur (0) in the first two deliveries, as Pune plunged to 130 for 7.
But it was Tiwary who slammed three fours and two sixes off 11 deliveries to lift Pune to 161 for 8.
Where the game was won
The regular fall of wickets for RCB never let them settle down and allowed Pune to keep up a constant pressure. As can be seen by the graph here, the win probability was consistently increasing indicating that RCB was losing the game steadily.
What this means for the tournament
This puts RCB in a very tough spot despite being, on paper, one of the strongest teams in IPL. But given the firepower they have, they are sure to make a comeback.