IPL 2022: Breaking down Rajat Patidar’s ton vs Lucknow Super Giants

Rajat Patidar came to the crease when the Royal Challengers Bangalore had lost their skipper Faf du Plessis for a golden duck. the team was down at 4/1. The 28-year-old went on to score 112 in 54 balls, guiding the Reds to a 207-run finish in the first innings. 

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As Patidar walked down to the dug out, his team, including the likes of Virat Kohli and du Plessis, and thousands at the Eden Gardens stood up to acknowledge his match-changing knock. 

The Indore-based cricketer went unsold in the IPL 2022 mega-auction. He came into the RCB side as a replacement for Karnataka’s Luvnith Sisodia. Now, he is the first uncapped player and Bangalore batter to score a century in the playoffs. 

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Patidar smashed 12 boundaries and seven maximums during his stay on the crease and as commentator Harsha Bhogale said, the sound off his bat was pure music. He added 66 with Virat Kohli (25) first before sharing another 92 off 41 balls with Dinesh Karthik (37 not out off 23) to take RCB past the 200-mark.

100s in IPL knockouts/Play Offs

122 V Sehwag PBKS v CSK 2014 (Q2)

117*S Watson CSK v SRH 2018 (Final)

115*W Saha PBKS v KKR 2014 (Final)

113 M Vijay CSK v DC 2012 (Q2)

101*Rajat Patidar RCB vs LSG 2022 (Eliminator)

Also read: How the IPL 2022 winner will be decided if the final is a no-result game

“Feels good that we have posted such a good total on a good pitch. It won’t be that easy to defent this total, but if we bowl well, we do have a chance to win this game. I just tried to time the ball well and place it in the gaps. I wasn’t looking forward to getting my century, but I was trying to get as many runs as possible,” Patidar said after the innings. 

RCB were 123-4 at the 15-over mark. Patidar and Karthik then smashed 84 runs in the last 30 balls.