Sanju Samson’s men continued their winning run in the competition with an impressive victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the MCA Stadium in Pune. For RCB, it was another batting collapse after their hapless show against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Rajasthan Royals pulled off a sensational performance with the ball as they defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore. Riyan Parag stepped up on a day where big names like Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson failed as his half-century propelled Rajasthan Royals to a respectable total (144/8) following a rare batting failure. And with the ball, it was another youngster Kuldeep Sen who stepped up with the ball in hand, taking four wickets in just 3.2 overs to help his side clinch the victory. This win would be satisfying for the Men in Pink, considering the fact that it was a perfect team performance where no one singlehandedly grabbed the spotlight.
For RCB, though, it was a second consecutive batting collapse as they now hold the record for the lowest total this season while chasing–115. Not to forget, they already have the lowest total this season (68). Despite getting promoted to the top of the order, Virat Kohli failed once again as he had a hard time, scoring nine runs off ten balls before being bounced out.
Skipper Faf du Plessis then took charge and helped the innings gain some sort of momentum, but Kuldeep Sen’s (4/20) game-changing over where he dismissed both him and Glenn Maxwell (for a golden duck) was the turning point in this fixture. From then on, RCB were always playing the catching-up game and never really looked to be in the chase.
Dinesh Karthik’s run-out confirmed the outcome, and it was only a matter of time before Rajasthan Royals sealed the result in their favour. Ravichandran Ashwin was as miserly as a spinner like him is expected to be in this format, conceding only 17 runs off four overs and taking three wickets.
The Royals were in trouble after losing three wickets in powerplay and their in-form batter Jos Buttler as well. But a brilliant unbeaten knock of 56 runs helped RR win against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Skipper said they are constantly backing Parag, and it finally yielded rich dividends.
“It is a really great win. After the start in the first 15 overs, we had real belief and trust in someone called Riyan Parag. We have been backing him for the last three-four years and he just showed it to the world today. I thought we were 10-15 runs short with no dew in the second innings. The pitch was turning and was two-paced, so 150-160 would have been a good total. It was something we were waiting for, for the back end of our batting to win us matches. Almost everyone has put up a match-winning performance so far,” said Sanju Samson in a post-match presentation.
