IPL 2019, RCB vs RR, Match 49: Gopal takes 'dream' hat-trick in rain-hit tie as RCB knocked out

The no result keeps Royals mathematically alive in the tournament as they have 11 points from 13 games with one match to go

Finally, the drama at Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday night came to an after the match between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) was abandoned due to rain. After getting stopped for more than three hours, the play began with 5-overs a side at 11:26 pm. Unfortunately, the rain played the spoilsport again and it had to be called off 10 balls before the completion of the face-off. Both the sides shared a point each. While Rajasthan still remain alive in the league, RCB became the first team to get knocked out, even mathematically. The revised match began with Kohli and Ab de Villiers opening the RCB innings as Royals had won the toss and opted to field. They went berserk over Varun Aaron as they slammed 23 runs in the opening over. However, Gopal brought Royals right back into the game in the following over by removing Kohli and de Villiers off successive balls before sending back Marcus Stoinis for a memorable hat-trick. With the following batsmen going for the big hits from the word go, RCB did manage to score 62 runs in five overs. In reply, Rajasthan had a decent start as openers Sanju Samson and Liam Livingstone stitched a 41-run stand in 3.2 overs. However, their scoring rate remained low than that of Bangalore as the RCB bowlers kept a check by bowling 8 dot balls out of 20 deliveries. Samson lost his wicket to Yuzvendra Chahal in the penultimate over. Needing 22 off the final 10 balls, Royals were favourites to pocket two points but showers lashed again and both teams had to share a point each. The no result keeps Royals mathematically alive in the tournament as they have 11 points from 13 games with one match to go.