RCB vs RR Review – Bengaluru ends home woes with a thrilling win against Rajasthan
Royal Challengers Bengaluru defeated Rajasthan Royals by 11 runs in Match 42 of the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Thursday, April 24. With this victory, RCB completed the double over RR and also won their first home game of the season.
Being asked to bat first, RCB got off to a fine start. Their powerplay yielded 59 runs for the loss of no wickets. Wanindu Hasaranga struck in his first over to remove Phil Salt (26 off 23) before Virat Kohli got to his fifty in the 12th over. At the end of 15 overs. RCB had raced to 156/1 and looked set for a massive total. However, the first delivery of Jofra Archer’s third over brought about the wicket of Kohli (70 off 42).
RCB were four down after Sandeep Sharma dismissed Devdutt Padikkal (50 off 27) and Rajat Patidar (one off three) in the subsequent over. Tim David was run out on the final ball of the first innings for 23 off 15. Jitesh Sharma ended up unbeaten on 20 off 10 as RCB ended up getting to 205/5 at the end of their 20-over quota. Hasaranga and Archer ended up conceding only 30 and 33 runs in their respective four overs.
While defending, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s third over on the trot brought about Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s wicket. The 14-year-old youngster was dismissed for 16 (12). Then, the penultimate delivery of the powerplay saw Yashasvi Jaiswal depart (49 off 19), one short of a deserving fifty. Overs 7 to 9 yielded 38 runs with RR seeming to be in control of proceedings, but standby skipper, Riyan Parag, was dismissed on the final ball at the midway point.
RR required 58 runs from the final 30 balls. Krunal Pandya (2/31 in four overs) and Suyash Sharma (0/31 in four overs) ended their spells by the end of the 16th over. A 22-run over off Bhuvneshwar Kumar changed the balance of the game towards RR. However, an excellent penultimate over by Josh Hazlewood (4/33) was backed up by Yash Dayal (1/33 in three overs) to negate Dhruv Jurel’s 47-run knock.
Top Performers of the match
Virat Kohli (70 off 42)
It was a wonderfully compiled innings by the ace RCB batter. Kohli paced his innings to perfection in an innings that contained eight fours and two sixes.
Josh Hazlewood (4/33 in four overs)
With a total of 15 dot balls, Hazlewood truly bowled a match-winning spell. He dismissed both of RR’s top scorers in Jaiswal and Jurel.
What’s next for both sides?
RCB will take on Delhi Capitals in Delhi on Sunday, April 27. RR will host Gujarat Titans in Jaipur on Monday, April 28. Both matches are scheduled to commence at 7:30 pm (IST).
