Standing tall as his more illustrious teammates fell by the wayside, Rajat Patidar  notched his maiden IPL century on Wednesday and helped keep Royal Challengers Bangalore’s title-hopes alive. A 54-ball 112 not out by the 28-year-old from Indore and a late surge by Dinesh Karthik had RCB posting 207 for four in the Eliminator. It proved 14 runs too many for Lucknow Super Giants despite a fighting 79 from the skipper KL Rahul and substantial contribution from Deepak Hooda.

It’s the end of the road for LSG while RCB get to take on Q-1 losers Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad on Friday for a place in Sunday’s final against local favourites Gujarat Titans. Earlier, 84 of the 41-ball 92 that Patidar and Karthik put together for the unbroken fifth wicket came in the last five overs.