Rajat Patidar was the man of the moment in Eden Gardens on Wednesday evening as the right-handed batter smashed an unbeaten 112 off 54 balls, helping Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) move a step closer from reaching the finals of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. Patidar along with Virat Kohli helped RCB recover from a shaky start, while his finish with Dinesh Karthik helped his team impose a gigantic target for Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), who lost the Eliminator by 14 runs.
Patidar arrived in the middle in the first over after RCB skipper Faf du Plessis was packed on 0. He then went on to add 66 runs for the second wicket alongside Kohli, and then added 92 runs off just 41 balls with Karthik to help RCB post 207/4 on the board after being invited to bat first.
Acknowledging Patidar’s match-winning effort, former RCB captain and India’s premier batter Kohli described it as “very very special”.
“I have seen many impact innings and many innings under pressure over so many years, but I have not seen better than how Rajat played today,” Kohli said in a post-game chat with Patidar, who was named man-of-the-match.’
“The magnitude of the game was so big that I was feeling the tension in the air because I have been in those situations where you have to cross the line as a team,” added Kohli.
“So what he did was very, very special and I don’t think that anyone should take that for granted. You should understand the excellence of his innings and appreciate as a cricketer to watch an innings like that.”
With this win, Bangalore will now take on Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 2, which will be played in Ahmedabad on Friday evening.
This is third consecutive time Bangalore have advanced to the play-offs stage, but their IPL best has been two runners-up finishes in 2009 and 2016.