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Turning Point: Gopal's twin strike hurts RCB

April 16, 2018 08:25 IST

Shreyas Gopal

IMAGE: Shreyas Gopal celebrates A B de Villiers' wicket. Photograph: BCCI

Karnataka leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal sizzled in front of his home fans in Bengaluru to play a key role in Rajasthan Royals' victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday.

Gopal, who has played a lot of cricket at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, made most of his knowledge of the venue as he returned with match-turning figures of 2/22 in four overs.

 

He dismissed the dangerous duo of Virat Kohli and A B de Villiers in successive overs to squash RCB's hopes.

RCB Captain Kohli perished in the 11th over, caught at deep midwicket off Gopal after he hit an impressive 57 from 30 balls, having hit two sixes and six fours.

De Villiers miscued to fine leg and was caught by Unadkat.

At that stage, RCB were 100/2 in 10 overs on a good batting wicket, but lost their way after Gopal's strike -- losing 3 wickets for 34 runs in the next 5 overs.

With two premier batsmen back in the hut, RCB never really mounted a challenge and finished on 198/6, falling short by 19 runs.

Harish Kotian