RCB vs RR: Rajasthan Royals bowlers pressed themselves on Royal Challengers Bangalore bowlers to help defend the 144-run target to record a 29-run win at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Tuesday – their sixth victory of the season, which has propelled them to the top of the points table once again. Kuldeep Sen and R Ashwin combined to capture seven wickets and keep RCB’s threat in the run chase at bay, downing them to their fourth loss in nine games after Riyan Parag produced a quick unbroken half-century to propel Royals in the closing overs.
RCB vs RR: Jos Buttler threat avoided by Josh Hazlewood
After being called in to bat, Rajasthan Royals’ highly reliant top order was cleaned off early. In the second over, Mohammad Siraj caught Devdutt Padikkal leg-before for a run-a-ball 7, then in the fourth over, the pacer got promotion No. 3 R Ashwin to top edge a pull and gets him caught after a quick 9-ball 17.
Before succumbing, Ashwin took advantage of the field limitations and unleashed some magnificent strokes, including four boundaries off Siraj. The biggest blow to RR came in the next over, when Jos Buttler, the season’s leading run-getter, pushed Hazlewood to the fielder at mid-on due to a lack of space off a rising delivery. Despite a brief burst of brilliance from Sanju Samson, the Royals were off to a shaky start.
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RCB vs RR: Riyan Parag to rescue RR at death overs
The young and promising batter, who was yet to put on a decent performance in RR’s success so far this season, pulled out an exceptional performance in the last few overs. Parag took matters into his own hands when saw his team crumbling down to 121 for 8. He smashed a six and a four in the penultimate over off Josh Hazlewood, he punished Harshal Patel and scored 18 runs in the last over en route to his unbeaten 31-ball 56 to push Rajasthan Royals to a decent 144 for 8.
RCB vs RR: An exceptional bowling by Rajasthan Royals
In particular, Ashwin was difficult to dismiss and kept chipping in with wickets in the middle overs, wiping up Rajat Patidar with a carrom-ball before having Suyash Prabhudessai hole out to the long-off fielder. Dinesh Karthik was run out before Shahbaz Ahmed and Wanindu Hasaranga could put up a fight in vain, as their attempted run chase struggled to locate a track.
Kuldeep Sen bowled hard lengths and was impressed with his pace. With the pitch holding up a little better, shot-making got more difficult, and he took advantage of the batters’ mistakes to take four wickets. He returned to wipe out the tail after the Powerplay after dismissing Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell off successive deliveries.
RCB vs RR: Brief Scores
Brief Scores: 1st Innings: Rajasthan Royals-144/8 in 20 overs (Riyan Parag 56*, Sanju Samson 27; Josh Hazlewood 2-19, Wanindu Hasaranga 2-23)
2nd Innings: Royal Challengers Bangalore-115 in 19.3 overs (Faf du Plessis 23, Wanindu Hasaranga 18; Kuldeep Sen 4-20, R Ashwin 3-17) by 29 runs.
