RCB's hopes washed out amid rain and hat-trick

BENGALURU: When it rains it pours, but on Tuesday night, when it looked like the downpour had receded, it started to pelt again. After a 3-hour-26-minute spell of rain and relentless work by the ground staff at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, the skies opened again to end the show.

SCORECARD | IPL SCHEDULE | IPL POINTS TABLE^[1][2][3]

Virat Kohli^[4] and AB de Villiers gave the Royal Challengers Bangalore^[5] (RCB) a blazing start in the five overs aside the rain-truncated match.

That blitz lasted all of nine balls before lightning struck in the form of Rajasthan Royals^[6] leggie Shreyas Gopal^[7], who turned RCB's nemesis again, claiming his first hat-trick in the Indian Premier League^[8] (IPL^[9]). This was the Karnataka spinner's second hat-trick at the venue after a similar feat in 2014 during the Irani Cup.

Sanju Samson (28, 13b, 2x4, 3x6) and Liam Livingstone started the chase on the right note with 41 runs in 3.1 overs before Yuzvendra Chahal struck to send back Samson. With Rajasthan needing 22 runs off 10 balls, the rain returned leaving the teams to split points. With this match, RCB's mathematical chance of making the play-offs ended, while the outcome did hurt Rajasthan's prospects.

Earlier, brought into the attack in the second over, Gopal went for 12 runs in the first three balls before he struck with wily variation in line and length. This is the third occasion in as many matches between the two sides that Gopal claimed the wickets of both Kohli and De Villiers.
First, Gopal tossed up a delivery that Kohli failed to connect and holed out one to Livingstone at long-on. De Villiers was the next to go as he sliced to Riyan Parag at covers. Another leg-break ensured a much-deserved hat-trick for the 25-year-old when Marcus Stoinis's straight drive was taken by skipper Steve Smith at mid-off.
The home team's crowd was further silenced as their batsmen made a quick beeline to the dressing room, ending with 62/7 with Kohli's 7-ball-25 being the highest individual score. For Rajasthan, Gopal finished with 3/12 in one over.
BRIEF SCORES: RCB 62/7 in 5 overs (Kohli 25; Gopal 3/12, O Thomas 2/6) vs RR 41-1 in 3.2 overs (S Samson 28) Match abandoned due to rain

References

1. ^{^} SCORECARD (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} IPL SCHEDULE (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} IPL POINTS TABLE (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
4. ^{^} Virat Kohli (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
5. ^{^} Royal Challengers Bangalore (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
6. ^{^} Rajasthan Royals (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
7. ^{^} Shreyas Gopal (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
8. ^{^} Indian Premier League (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
9. ^{^} IPL (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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