Match Details
Arya- Earlier in the day, it was RCB skipper Faf du Plessis who won the toss and put Rajasthan Royals in. Again Sanju Samson lost a toss and ended up on the winning side. They keep batting first and winning games. It was a great start from the RCB bowlers with Mohammed Siraj removing Devdutt Padikkal pretty early on. He missed the attempted flick and was struck plumb in front.
Ravichandran Ashwin was promoted up the order and he started off with two boundaries in the first two deliveries. He struck two more before departing to Mohammed Siraj. Jos Buttler who has been in scintillating form in this edition of the IPL had a rare off day as he couldn't quite time a hard-length delivery from Josh Hazlewood as he lobbed one straight to the mid-on fielder.
Sanju Samson struck some brilliant shots to get going but couldn’t quite carry as Hasaranga bagged his prized wicket. Rajasthan Royals Shimron Hetmyer early and that looked like the final nail in the coffin for them. However, Riyan Parag who was yet to come to his own in the tournament smashed an exceptional unbeaten 57 which took Rajasthan Royals to a competitive score of 144 runs.
He looked in exceptional touch right from the word go and started taking on the RCB bowlers head-on. He smashed 3 fours and 4 sixes during his match-winning knock and made sure that their bowlers had something to bowl at. In the end it was a comfortable victory for the Rajasthan Royals by 29 runs.
Arya- A comfortable victory for the Rajasthan Royals in the end. It was a top effort from all the bowlers as they managed to defend a below-par score of 144 with utmost ease in the end. Rajasthan Royals needed early wickets to take the challenge to the RCB batters. It was a great start from the RR pacers. Virat Kohli who is having the toughest time in his career couldnt score big again. He survived a close shape on nought and eventually a well-directed short delivery from Prasidh Krishna brought about his downfall. He went for the pull but ended up getting it from the cue end of the bat which carried to Riyam Parag at backward point.
Skipper Faf du Plessis started off well and struck 3 fours and a six during his knock of 23 before a hostile Kuldeep Sen removed him with a hard-length delivery. RCB kept losing wickets on regular intervals which never really allowed them to seize control of the match. Kuldeep removed Glenn Maxwell in the very next delivery with a back of a length away swinger outside off. Maxwell poked at that from the crease and ended up getting an outside edge straight down the throat of Devdutt Padikkal at first slip.
Ravichandran Ashwin bowled brilliantly in the middle overs and it was the duo of Ashwin and Chahal who squeezed the RCB middle order and never allowed them to set free. Ashwin bagged the wickets of Rajat Patidar and Suyash Prabhudessai while Kuldeep Sen kept bowling with hostility and managed to contain the RCB batters in the middle overs. Rajasthan Royals needed to chip away with the wickets as the target wasn't much. They kept piling the pressure on RCB and eventually the batters faltered big time.
Shahbaz Ahmed tried to resurrect the run-chase but couldn't quite get any flow to his innings. He was eventually dismissed on 17 of 27 deliveries which put a lot of pressure on the other batters. Wickets kept tumbling and it was always going to be a huge ask for the lower order to make a match out of it. Harshal Patel struck a maximum in the penultimate over but the target was way too much in the end. With this victory, Rajasthan Royals has gone to the top of the points table with six victories.