Guwahati, April 10 Rajat Patidar delivered a masterclass in calculated counter-attack, even as wickets continued to fall at the other end, guiding Royal Challengers Bengaluru to 201 for 8 against Rajasthan Royals in an IPL match here on Friday.
Patidar hit four sixes and as many boundaries in his 40-ball-63, which was largely responsible for RCB reaching a challenging score after being in trouble at 94 for 6 at one stage.
Patidar nudged and pushed, keeping the scoreboard moving, even as several RCB batsmen, including the great Virat Kohli (32 off 16 balls), got out while trying to accelerate.
Towards the end, it was Impact Sub Venkatesh Iyer, who scored 29 off 15 balls, including 21 off the final over from Sandeep Sharma, which took the score past the 200-run mark.
Following a steady drizzle before the start of the match, the Barsapara 22-yard strip had enough underlying moisture that led to extra bounce, which accounted for both Phil Salt and Devdutt Padikkal, with Jofra Archer being the initial wrecker-in-chief.
Kohli played and missed a few, with both bounce and seam movement causing some trouble, but in between, he hit seven boundaries. However, once Ravi Bishnoi, who has tweaked his run-up to a circular bowled google to outfox Kohli, who went for an inside out lofted shot over covers, RCB's troubles started.
Bishnoi got Krunal Pandya and then the unheralded Brijesh Sharma, a pick from Bengal Premier League T20, got one to skid into Jitesh Sharma's pads to make it 76 for 5. He also accounted for Tim David before Romario Shepherd hit the first six off the innings in the 12th over.
Towards the back end, Patidar showed his range, but none of it was better than putting his dancing shoes on and lofting Bishnoi into the stands.
Venkatesh, who was under immense pressure due to his price tag at KKR last year, had to be introduced as Impact Player in pursuit of extra runs, and he did his bit to prop up the score. However, in the process, RCB had to sacrifice Suyash Sharma, a leg-break bowler, who could have been as effective as Bishnoi.
In the end, RCB were 25 runs short of a par-score.