Rajasthan Royals succumbed to the third-lowest score in the history of the Indian Premier League as Royal Challengers Bangalore bowlers produced a breathtaking display with the ball to clinch the victory by 112 runs at the Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
While chasing a target of 172, RR batters failed to deal with the intensity and aggression of the RCB bowlers. Mohammed Siraj set the tone of the game as he dismissed in-form batter Yashasvi Jaiswal for a two-ball duck.
Wayne Parnell came in to replace Josh Hazlewood and he didn’t disappoint with the ball as in the second over of the game he ended up dismissing RR’s backbone of the batting lineup.
Jos Buttler’s poor run with the bat continued as he followed the footsteps of his partner for a score of a two-ball duck. Sanju Samson and Joe Root tried to bring the hosts back into the game but they failed to achieve it.
RR skipper Samson played a half-committed shot which went straight into the hands of Anuj Rawat. After facing 10 balls, RR had lost their three batters for a score of 7. As Buttler and Samson became the victims of Parnell, the middle-order battlers were left with too much to do in the next 18 overs.
RR tried to string partnerships but RCB kept knocking on their door for more wickets. Former RCB player Devdutt Padikkal was next in line to return to the dugout as Michael Bracewell picked up the fourth wicket of the match. Siraj made a top-class effort to get to the ball and ensure that he took the catch cleanly.
With wickets falling like a house of cards, the English batter Root cracked under the pressure which was mounting up with every single ball. He became Parnell’s third victim after scoring 10(15).
One of the shining stars of this IPL Dhruv Jurel had the perfect opportunity to leave his mark by giving RR a chance to fight back against the odds. But Bracewell didn’t allow such a situation to unfold as he dismissed Jurel for a score of 1(7).
RR were on the brink of registering the lowest score in the history of IPL against the team which holds the unwanted record. The West Indian batter made sure to avoid such as he struck three consecutive sixes in Karna Sharma’s over.
Ravichandran Ashwin ended up losing his wicket in the 8th over as his bat was a few centimetres short of crossing the line.
After Ashwin’s departure, Hetmyer couldn’t keep up the momentum as he was dismissed by Glenn Maxwell for a score of 35(19).
After his dismissal, RR ended up losing both of their wickets in the 11th over of the game. They ended their innings with a score of 59/10.
Earlier, RCB’s in-form openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis came to bat, and they gave a solid start to the team. At the end of the powerplay, RCB were at 42/0. Faf du Plessis 23* off 199 balls and Virat Kohli 17 off 17 balls.
The duo added a 50-run partnership in 6.3 overs however, Virat dismissed quickly in the 7th over when Asif delivered a slower bowl. Virat scored 18 off 19 balls.
Glenn Maxwell then joined Faf in the middle, both together added 50 runs on the scoreboard off 38 balls. RCB brought their 100-run mark in 13.2 overs.
RCB skipper brought his seventh fifty in the season, smashing a half-century in 41 balls. But in the same over, Asif picked the scalp of Faf with a full-length delivery.
In the next over, Adam Zampa who has made his return to the team dismissed Mahipal Lomror who scored just one run facing two balls.
Maxwell clinched his fifty off 30 balls in the 16.5 over. Sandeep Sharma cleared Maxwell with a brilliant Yorker hitting the wickets in the 17.3 overs.
In the last over Anuj Rawat showed some class by hitting two consecutive sixes and one four providing RCB 171/5 in 20 overs.
Adam Zampa proved his place in the side, as he took two wickets by conceding just 25 runs. Asif also picked two scalps whereas Sandeep Sharma dismissed one batter.
Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 59/10 (Shimron Hetmyer 35(19), Wayne Parnell 3/10 and Michael Bracewell 2/16) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore and Royal Challengers Bangalore 171/5 (Faf du Plessis 55, Glenn Maxwell 54, Adam Zampa 2/25) vs Rajasthan Royals. (ANI)
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