In a high-scoring encounter played between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday afternoon, RCB recorded a narrow victory by seven runs in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 competition in a close finish.
Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis scored half centuries for Royal Challengers Bangalore who made 189 for nine in their 20 overs after being invited to bat first by the Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson. Glenn Maxwell scored 77 from just 44 deliveries with Faf du Plessis hitting his fifth half-century in IPL 2023 competition as the RCB captain, who did not come out to field later in the game, made 62 from 39 balls.
Royal Challengers Bangalore got off to a poor start when Rajasthan Royals fast bowler Trent Boult dismissed Virat Kohli on the first ball of the match, getting the top batsmen out with a four for a first ball duck. Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell then joined forces to take RCB ahead, adding 127 runs for the third wicket as their partnership promised them to a total of 200 on Sunday afternoon.
But RCB lost their way with a flurry of wickets in the latest stage of the game as Rajasthan Royals did well to restrict them to a total of 189 for nine in their 20 overs. Glenn Maxwell faced 44 balls and hit six boundaries and four sixes to make 77 whereas Faf du Plessis scored 62 from just 39 balls with the help of eight fours and two sixes.
In the reply, Rajasthan Royals are also off to a poor start as Jos Buttler was bowled by Mohammed Siraj in the first over for a duck and despite young batsmen and Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal doing well to add 98 runs for the second wicket, Rajasthan Royals just could not attain a strong momentum in their chase.
Yashasvi Jaiswal played some attacking game at the start whereas Devdutt Padikkal picked up later on. It was unfortunate that opening batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal could not bring up his half century as he was dismissed for 47 from 37 balls after hitting five boundaries and two sixes whereas Devdutt Padikkal was able to record his first half century of IPL 2023 tournament, finishing at 52 from 34 balls with the help of seven boundaries and a six.
Rajasthan Royals did not have enough momentum in their chase and they could not also counter-attack until it was too late, as Dhruv Jurel played yet another crucial knock but his effort was not enough to take his team to a win. Dhruv Jurel hit two sixes and as many fours to make 34 not out from 16 balls whereas Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson was dismissed for 22 and Shimron Hetmyer struggled to make just three runs from nine balls.
Towards the end of the innings, Ravichandran Ashwin hit a couple of fours to make 12 from six balls but Royal Challengers Bangalore were able to record a narrow victory.