Shubman Gill was happy to tick off the “chase” box from his skipper’s check list in an emphatic manner as he was glowing in his praise for young team comprising of “great bunch of players”. Yashasvi Jaiswal (93 off 53 balls) and skipper Gill (58 off 39 balls) hunted down a target of 153 with 28 balls to spare and the skipper expects this team to move forward in right direction. “Chasing was one thing we talked about. We could not do it in the first game, so good to get it done. The job is not done, though,” Gill stated during the post-match presentation.

“This is a great team, great bunch of players. Hopefully, we will be able to take the team forward.” With the series already in the pocket, when asked about changes in the playing XI for the final fixture on Sunday, Gill did not reveal anything significant.

“Haven’t had the discussion with the coach. If there are any changes, we will let you know at the toss tomorrow,” he added.

Meanwhile, Jaiswal was adjudged the man of the match for his commanding outing with the bat, while he admitted that he had to enjoy the decent batting turf at play on Saturday.

“I really enjoyed my batting today. I had my plans for different bowlers. The ball was coming on when it was new and as it got old, it was quite slow. I enjoyed batting with Shubman,” he said.

“I understood and changed my game. We really enjoyed together. Initially, I wanted to go after my shots. After that, I wanted to rotate and wanted to stay till the end.” Jaiswal said that for him, the more important aspect is his process of preparation. “My diet, sleeping pattern, how I am executing my plans in practice However, on the other hand, Zimbabwean captain Sikandar Raza had a contrasting take on the Harare pitch, which he felt was slow, especially when his team was put in to bat first.

“I think because the wicket was a touch on the slower side, we thought 160 was a par score, but 180 wouldn’t have been enough. Today is the day you hold your heads high and say they batted better,” he opinionated.

“The heavy roller did the trick for them. It became a beautiful wicket.” But Raza expressed his confidence in the team gaining confidence and that they would become a competitive side soon.

“I am very sure we will be a very competitive side in a short time. There was a bit of kick (and) bounce, and we had to reign ourselves in. We will want to finish the series 3-2 tomorrow,” he concluded.

Worked a lot on my cutters and yorkers: Khaleel Ahmed

Notably, Khaleel bowled quite a few slower deliveries, and the trick worked against the Chevrons, as he seized the wickets of Dion Myers (12) and Clive Madande (7) in the closing stages of the innings.

Commenting on the same, the 26-year-old thanked his stint as a reserve player for the Men in Blue during the T20 World Cup in the Americas, where he worked on his slower ones.

“I was part of the World Cup reserves, and there, I worked a lot on my cutters and yorkers. I am very happy with my performance. The kind of rhythm I have got, and the execution has been great,” he told the broadcaster following the victory.

“This series is everything for me. When I was not part of the dressing room, I was missing it a lot. Very happy to be a part of it. We have all played in the IPL; we are all together in this.”

Rajasthan Royals ended Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s roller coaster run in the Indian Premier League with a scratchy four-wicket win in the Eliminator in Ahmedabad on Wednesday. After their bowlers had done their part well to keep RCB to 172/8, RR batters stuttered in the middle overs to allow RCB back into the contest which remained hung in balance for the majority of the second half, but the 2008 winners eventually got home with an over to spare. Chasing 173, Rajasthan ended with 174/6 as Rovman Powell (16 not out) provided the finishing touches in a tense finish.

As he has done several times before this season, Riyan Parag (36 off 26) showcased deep resolve in an adverse situation to help Rajasthan stay alive in the tournament. It was Royals’ first win after four losses and an abandoned game.

2008 winners Royals face Sunrisers Hyderabad in Chennai on Friday for a place in the IPL final.

The returning Shimron Hetmyer also played his part to perfection, scoring a crucial 26 off 14 balls.

In a contest wherein fortunes swung from one side to another, RR remained ahead with impactful performances throughout even though Mohammed Siraj (2/33) raised late hopes for RCB with wickets of Parag and Hetmyer in the 18th over, With 13 needed off last two overs, Powell found two fours off Lockie Ferguson to seal the deal in favour of his side.

Earlier, it was Yashasvi Jaiswal (45 off 30) who gave them the impetus at the top.

Off to an unconvincing start with his initial runs coming off the outside edge, Jaiswal grew in confidence when Yash Dayal fed him a few deliveries to capitalise on and the RR opener cracked four fours in the third over to break the shackles.

At the other end, Tom Kohler-Cadmore (20) also hit a couple of fours against Siraj and while getting a lifeline from Glenn Maxwell, who spilled a sitter at deep square leg off Dayal.

With RR’s acceleration rapidly shaving runs off the target, RCB needed a breakthrough and Lockie Ferguson provided the first success when he foxed Kohler-Cadmore with a slow yorker which crashed into the stumps.

The gradual progression of Jaiswal’s innings saw the batter finding his rhythm, but the extreme heat sapped him out completely having faced a mere 29 balls.

In between the ninth and the 10th over, Jaiswal received on-field treatment and got back up only to play a loose shot – an attempted ramp off Cameron Green but only gloved it to the ‘keeper.

Soon after, Karn Sharma dealt a body blow by having Sanju Samson (17) stumped.

With their tails up, RCB continued making inroads with Dhruv Jurel (8) being run out after a brilliant effort from Virat Kohli and Cameron Green. Kohli fired a sharp throw from deep midwicket to the non-striker’s end, where Jurel was found short of his crease.

RR were firmly under pressure heading into the 15th over when they chose to go after Green, who had been all over them with three tidy overs and a wicket up until then.

Hetmyer smacked the Australian for a six and Parag followed his partner in hitting another, while also finding a four to collect 17 runs.

Earlier, Rajasthan Royals put forth a sharp bowling effort.

Led by Trent Boult (4-0-16-1), who produced an opening spell of 3-0-6-1, RR bowlers kept taking wickets at crucial stages to control the game.

The venerable Ravichandran Ashwin (4-0-19-2), having previously gone wicketless for a significant stretch, left an indelible mark with wickets Cameron Green (27) and Glenn Maxwell (0) on consecutive deliveries while Avesh Khan (3/44) also chipped in.

Rajasthan’s bowling was adequately backed up by their fielders, particularly Rovman Powell, who took two stunning catches that clipped RCB’s progress.