Royal Challengers Bengaluru bounce back with a win by 9 wickets against Rajasthan Royals
2025 Indian Premier League: Royal Challengers Bengaluru trounced Rajasthan Royals by 9 wickets to extend away winning run
Virat Kohli took his team over the line against the Royals
Royal Challengers Bengaluru returned to winning ways as they wrapped up a 9-wicket win against the Rajasthan Royals away from home at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in the 2025 Indian Premier League season.
After winning the toss, RCB skipper Rajat Patidar chose to field first, announcing that he is playing with the same set of players, while RR welcomed back former RCB stalwart Wanindu Hasaranga in the playing contingent after the all-rounder missed the previous match.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson had a scratchy start in the powerplay overs, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yash Dayal bowling the right lengths to keep the RR openers in check as the duo accumulated 24 runs off the first four overs.
After the powerplay overs were wrapped up, Patidar introduced spin in the form of Krunal Pandya, who tempted the struggling Samson to step out, and Jitesh Sharma had the easiest job of dislodging the bails with the RR skipper nowhere close to the crease.
Parag helped the Royals cross the 50-run mark on the last ball of the seventh over, and the duo of Jaiswal and Parag upped the ante soon after accumulating 55 runs in the next 37 balls. RCB could have broken off that partnership in Suyash’s first over, but both Jitesh and Yash dropped Yashasvi and Parag, respectively.
In the 12th over, Jaiswal also brought up his half-century and the southpaw could have been dismissed on the last ball of the same over as Phil Salt made a massive jump at the boundary but had to let go of the ball as he was losing his balance while coming downwards allowing Jaiswal to live another day.
A couple of balls later, Parag hit the ball straight to Virat Kohli as Yash Dayal claimed his first wicket of the innings, breaking the 56-run partnership between the duo. After a brilliant innings of 75 runs off 47 balls, Jaiswal tried to swing across the line but was trapped Leg Before Wicket by Hazlewood, who conceded a few runs but removed the danger man on the last ball of the 16th over.
Suyash came on to bowl his last over and almost dismissed Dhruv Jurel as the middle-order batter holed it out to Kohli in the deep, but the former RCB skipper spilt the ball, allowing Jurel to take on Dayal in the 19th over. The RR batter first went down the ground for a maximum, followed by a swipe across the mid-wicket region that went for a four, accumulating 15 runs from the penultimate over of the innings.
While Bhuvneshwar dismissed Shimron Hetmyer in the last over, Nitish Rana smacked a four off his first ball and the innings’ last ball to help RR post 173 runs on the board.
Jofra Archer started aggressively from the first ball and troubled Salt throughout the over as the Welshman inside edged the first ball and was almost struck LBW on the last ball of the first over.
Despite the struggles, Salt ensured he collected 10 runs off the first over with a lucky boundary and a well-timed maximum. In the second over, Kohli scored his first boundary of the innings to keep the scoreboard ticking.
The RCB opening pair kept the pressure on the bowling unit as Salt smashed another four and six against Archer in the third over. Sandeep Sharma came on to bowl the fourth over, and Parag dropped Kohli on the first ball of the over while Sandeep himself dropped Salt later in the over, which can be considered a half-chance in retrospect.
Seeing how the RCB spinners were successful in the first innings, Samson introduced the slower bowlers early, but Maheesh Theekshana also ended up conceding a four and a six to Salt as RCB crossed the 50-run mark in the fifth over.
Sandeep bowled the last over of the powerplay, and Salt once again scored a maximum and a boundary sandwiched by a drop catch and a missed run-out chance by Jaiswal, who allowed the England opening batter to damage the Royals’ bowlers a bit more.
Phil Salt took the match away from RR inside the powerplay overs
Impact substitute Kumar Kartikeya Singh was introduced into the attack after the powerplay, and the left-arm orthodox spinner tightened the noose on the run-flow. Wanindu Hasaranga came in the next over and conceded a four and a six to Salt, who brought up his half-century within 28 balls.
Kartikeya came back into the attack and dismissed the dangerous Salt after conceding a maximum as the RCB opener hit it straight to Jaiswal at mid-wicket, who grabbed the ball safely this time around as the Royal Challengers introduced their own impact substitute in the form of Devdutt Padikkal.
Despite claiming the wicket, Kartikeya wasn’t kept in the attack as Samson continued to rotate his bowlers to keep the pair of Kohli and Padikkal quiet, which worked for a couple of overs, but Kohli upped the ante soon after bringing the required run rate under 7 with six overs to go.
In the 15th over, Kohli went down the ground against Hasaranga for a glorious maximum that brought up Kohli’s 100th half-century in T20s and third fifty in the ongoing IPL season. Padikkal then took on Deshpande and Archer before finishing the run chase with a well-placed boundary off Sandeep’s bowling, wrapping up the match with 15 balls and 9 wickets in hand.
RCB maintained their winning streak in matches away from home, triumphing in their fourth straight away match, and the Royal Challengers skipper Rajat Patidar was full of praise for his bowlers, who were excellent in the first innings. He said, “It was really amazing. The way the bowlers executed their plans, it’s nice to see. The way we bowled in the powerplay was really special. The wicket wasn’t easy to bat. We were targeting 150-170. I get my confidence from my bowlers. They are ready to bowl at any surface and at any stage; that’s amazing and gives a lot of confidence for me.”