(Cricket news) After being knocked out in the Eliminator for 2 consecutive seasons, Royal Challengers Bangalore have finally overcome the hurdle to reach the Qualifier 2. RCB defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 14 runs and there is a singular reason why and that is Rajat Patidar. The Madhya Pradesh batter scored an unbeaten 112 off just 54 balls to guide RCB to a first innings total of 207 runs. RCB ended up defending the total as LSG fell 14 runs short.

After losing the toss, RCB were put into bat first. Their innings got off to a disastrous start as skipper Faf du Plessis was dismissed for a golden duck by Mohsin Khan. Rajat Patidar came in at a very difficult time and started positively. Wickets kept falling at the other end but Patidar kept on playing some exquisite strokes. He anchored the RCB innings perfectly while Dinesh Karthik provided a great finishing touch. Patidar hit 12 fours and 7 sixes in his stellar innings. He became the first uncapped player to score a ton in an IPL playoff game. Virat Kohli after the game said, "I've seen many impact innings and many innings under pressure for a long time, but I haven't seen many better innings than Rajat Patidar's knock".

The knock is even more special considering the context that Rajat Patidar went unsold at the mega auction. Even with a base price of INR 20 Lakh, Patidar found no buyers. He was later roped in by RCB as a replacement for the injured Luvnith Sisodia. After giving a few chances to Anuj Rawat, Patidar came in to bat at number 3 which allowed Virat Kohli to open the batting. He registered the scores of 16(16), 52(32), 21(15), 48(36) & 26(21) to cement his place in the side. David Miller has a similar story as he also went unsold in the first round of the auction before being picked by Gujarat Titans in the 2nd round INR 3 Cr. Miller, just like Patidar played a match-winning knock to lead his side to a win in Qualifier 1. RCB will now face Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 2 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

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