Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Rajasthan Royals by 7 runs in the IPL match held at Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, on Sunday. Rajasthan Royals chose to bowl after winning the toss. RCB initially struggled when Virat Kohli, who is the run machine of the team, got out on his very first ball. But a great partnership between Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell, who scored 139 runs together, helped to keep the score at 189.
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Devdutt Padikkal and Yashasvi Jaiswal added 98 runs for the second wicket before Padikkal fell for 52(34), as Rajasthan required 190 to win. Padikkal struck his maiden 50 of the season. Padikkal was dismissed by Willey, and Virat Kohli took his 100th IPL catch Rajasthan lost their star opener Jos Buttler for 0 but got their innings back on track thanks to a solid hand by Devdutt Padikkal and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Soon after, Sanju Samson 22(15) and Yashasvi 47(37) were also expelled. Shimron Hetmyer was outfielded for 3(9) after failing to connect on the big hits. However, Dhruv Jurel’s cameo helped the team score 182.
Despite a brilliant performance by Dhruv Jurel who scored 34 not out from 16 balls (2×4,2×6), RR did not manage to meet the target of 190 runs. With one over left to bowl, Harshal Patel, the Royals needed to score 20 runs, but only managed to get 12.
Talking about RCB’s win, we saw a team effort where the bowlers like Mohammed Siraj (4-0-39-1) and David Willey (4-0-26-1) bowled well for RCB, but Harshal Patel (4-0-32) was the most impressive. Whereas, a 39-ball knock by Du Plessis, which included eight fours and two sixes, brought his total to 405 runs in just seven games. On the other hand, Maxwell who struck his third fifty of this IPL season and scored 77 runs in just 44 balls, became the Man of the Match. However, rest of the batters bungled the opportunity set up brilliantly by their top order, Dinesh Karthik (11) being the only other batsman to reach double figures.
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Rajasthan Royals got off to the best possible start thanks to Boult, who took his 100th IPL wicket by pinning Virat Kohli (0) in front of the wickets with the first ball of the match.
It was the Royals bowlers who stood out in the final five overs as they controlled the innings with a disciplined effort, while also causing two run-outs.
IPL Points Table-
As of now, Chennai Super Kings hold the top spot with 10 points, followed by Rajasthan Royals with 8 points despite losing their last two games because of their high NRR. Lucknow Super Giants are in third place with 8 points, followed by Gujarat Titans in fourth, Royal Challengers Bangalore in fifth, and Punjab Kings in sixth. Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders, Sunrisers Hyderabad, and Delhi Capitals continue to battle to regain ground on their opponents in the points race.
