Rajasthan Royals accomplished a nervy chase to stay alive in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as they eliminated Royal Challengers Bengaluru with a four-wicket victory on Wednesday.
Electing to field, 2008 champions Rajasthan restricted Bengaluru to a below-par 172-8 and returned to chase down the target with one over to spare.
Rajasthan will clash with Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second qualifier on Friday for a place in Sunday's final against Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai.
The IPL title eluded Bengaluru once again despite their spectacular resurgence in the second half of the tournament.
Their batting did not click in the eliminator against Rajasthan at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Virat Kohli (33), Rajat Patidar (34) and Mahipal Lomror (32) produced cameos but they still fell short of the 175-run mark after being put into bat.
For Rajasthan, Avesh Khan claimed 3-44 while Ravichandran Ashwin conceded 19 runs in his four overs, dismissing the Australian duo of Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell with successive deliveries.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (45) gave Rajasthan a flying start but Bengaluru managed to restrict them to 86-3 at the halfway stage of their innings.
Riyan Parag (36) and Shimron Hetmyer (26) got Rajasthan's chase back on track before both fell to Mohammed Siraj in the same over.
Rovman Powell hit Lockie Ferguson over his head for a six to seal Rajasthan's victory with an over to spare.
Bengaluru captain Faf du Plessis felt they fell 20 runs short of what would have been a par score.
"If you assessed the pitch and the conditions, you'd say it was a 180-(run) pitch because there was swing up front and it was quite slow," the South African said.
"It's a sad ending...but we were not special tonight in terms of pushing for those extra 20 runs."
