IPL 2018, RR vs RCB: 3 unnoticed things from the match

Match 53 of IPL 2018 saw a do or die battle for the playoff spot between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals with the latter coming on top at their home ground thanks to a brilliant bowling display from Shreyas Gopal. Initially, Rahul Tripathi delivered a match-winning knock with the bat.

Having been promoted up the order thanks to the departure of Jos Buttler, Tripathi smashed an unbeaten 80 off 58 balls, helping Rajasthan reach a competitive score of 164 which proved to be enough to kick RCB out of the tournament.

Sportskeeda takes a look at the three unnoticed things in the match which had a telling impact in the closely fought game.

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#1 Moeen Ali denied a wicket

Moeen Ali failed to back up his match-winning performance from the previous match and dished out a forgettable performance with both bat and ball. However, he had a stroke of misfortune in the last ball of first over he bowled when he deceived Rahul Tripathi and hit him on the pads.

The umpire didn't raise his finger probably owing to the height factor, and the RCB thinktank felt the ball was going down leg and decided against the review. It turned out to be a match-defining decision for RCB as the Hawkeye showed three reds and Rahul Tripathi marched on to deliver a match-winning innings for Rajasthan Royals smashing an unbeaten 80 off 58 balls.

#2 Triple stumpings from Klassen

Preferred ahead of Short, Heinrich Klaasen made sure his team didn't miss the all-around skills of Ben Stokes thanks to a brilliant display with bat and gloves in hand. After helping his team reach a competitive total with a handy knock of 32, Klassen made a telling impact in the match behind the stumps affecting three stumpings.

One of them being the big wicket of AB de Villiers, which effectively sealed the game for Rajasthan Royals when he failed to gauge the turn of Shreyas Gopal beaten in the flight which resulted in Klassen completing a smart stumping. Parthiv Patel and Mandeep Singh were the other victims of his quick glovework with Shreyas Gopal being the beneficiary of both of them as well.

#3 Tripathi finally coming good

Making a name for himself at the top of the order representing Rising Pune Super Giant last year, Rahul Tripathi was pushed down the order to accommodate big hitting foreign recruits like D'Arcy Short and Klaasen.

The move didn't work either way for Rajasthan Royals since none of the openers came good apart from Jos Buttler to partner Rahane and Tripathi struggled to make an impact in the middle order, getting dropped at a point.

Following the departure of Jos Buttler to England, Tri[pathi was slotted back in the opening role alongside Rahane and proved his credentials at the top by playing an unbeaten match-winning inning of 80, keeping their playoff hopes alive and eventually completing his first half-century of the tournament.