A disciplined bowling effort from Josh Hazlewood and Yash Dayal in the death overs helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pull off an 11-run win against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday. This was RCB’s first win at home after three straight losses. With this result, Bengaluru climbed to third in the points table with 12 points from nine matches. RR remained in eighth place with just two wins in nine games and suffered their fifth loss in a row.
Virat Kohli top-scored with 70 off 42 balls, ending his home half-century drought and guiding RCB to 205 for five after they were put in to bat. Kohli shared a 95-run partnership with Devdutt Padikkal, who made 50 from 27 balls. Late cameos from Tim David and Jitesh Sharma helped RCB go past the 200-run mark. Chasing 206, Rajasthan got off to a fiery start with Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi going after the bowlers in the powerplay. Jaiswal smashed 49 in just 19 balls before falling to Hazlewood. RR reached 72 for two at the end of the powerplay.
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Captain Riyan Parag added some quick runs but was dismissed for 22. Nitish Rana scored 28 before falling to Krunal Pandya, who bowled economically in the middle overs. Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel and Shubham Dubey kept the chase alive, with Jurel scoring 47 off 34 balls. However, Hazlewood turned the match around in the 19th over, taking two wickets in two balls to dismiss Jurel and Jofra Archer.
Dayal defended 17 runs in the final over and picked up the wicket of Shubham. A run-out followed and RR finished at 194 for nine. Hazlewood was the pick of the bowlers with figures of four for 33. Dayal and Krunal took one wicket each. Earlier, Kohli’s innings, which included eight fours and two sixes, set the tone for RCB. He now has five fifties this season and sits second in the Orange Cap race with 392 runs. Padikkal’s knock featured four boundaries and three sixes. Sandeep Sharma was the most successful RR bowler with two for 45. Archer and Wanindu Hasaranga took one wicket each.
Brief Scores:
RCB 205/5 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 70, Devdutt Padikkal 50; Sandeep Sharma 2/45)
RR 194/9 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 49, Dhruv Jurel 47; Josh Hazlewood 4/33)
RCB won by 11 runs.
