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Indian Premier League 2023 table-toppers Rajasthan Royals suffered another disappointing defeat as they lost a thriller against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 32nd match on April 23.
Sanju Samson won the toss for Rajasthan Royals and elected to bowl first at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Riyan Parag was made to sit on the bench for Rajasthan while Bangalore recalled David Willey in place of Wayne Parnell.
Trent Boult gave Rajasthan Royals a dream start with Virat Kohli’s wicket on the very first delivery of the game. The Kiwi speedster further stunned the home crowd with Shahbaz Ahmed’s wicket in the third over to add early pressure on Bangalore.
But Faf du Plessis continued his red-hot form with a sensational century partnership for the third wicket with Glenn Maxwell. Both batters recorded half-centuries to keep Bangalore on track for a big total. Faf scored 62 off 39 while Maxwell top-scored with 77 off 44 as the hosts posted a total of 189/9.
Rajasthan’s bowlers were impressive in the death overs to deny Bangalore a 200-plus total. Boult and Sandeep Sharma took two wickets each while the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal picked one each.
While defending, Mohammed Siraj bowled out Jos Buttler for a duck on the innings’ fourth delivery to give Bangalore an early advantage. But Devdutt Padikkal and Yashasvi Jaiswal added a 98-run stand for the second wicket to quickly balance the game. Padikkal smashed 52 off 34 against his former team before getting out to a David Willey delivery in the 12th over.
Harshal Patel, coming in as an Impact Player, dismissed Jaiswal in the 14th over to shift the momentum towards Bangalore. Harshal also dismissed Sanju Samson who smashed 22 off 15 and seemed in comfortable position to finish the game.
Young big-hitter Dhruv Jurel dragged the game to the last over by smashing 34* off 16 but Rajasthan Royals managed to only score a total of 182/6. Harshal picked three wickets for 32 and also defended 20 runs in the last over while Siraj and Willey dazzled with one wicket each for RCB to earn a seven-run win.
What’s next for both teams?
Royal Challengers Bangalore next host Kolkata Knight Riders on April 26 while Rajasthan Royals will clash against Chennai Super Kings on April 27 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.
