With a complete all-round performance by the bowlers and batsmen, Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Rajasthan Royals by 8 wickets. They chased a total of 155 in 19.1 overs. Virat Kohli (72*) and Devdutt Paddikal (63) shined in RCB’s innings. On the bowling front, it was again Yuzvendra Chahal (3/24), who did the job for Bangalore. Rajasthan’s batting faltered once again which eventually made them score a non-competitive score.
Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bat first. He didn’t get the start he wanted as all the top-order batsmen of Rajasthan got out in powerplay itself. RR lost the wickets of Jos Buttler, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson in the first six overs. Then, Robin Uthappa and Mahipal Lomror tried to settle the scoreboard. Their efforts lasted only for a few overs as Uthappa was scalped by Chahal in the 11th over. Lomror played a responsible innings and made 47 runs. It was Chahal again who got him out towards the end of the first innings. By the end of 20 overs, RR managed to score 154 runs for a loss of 6 wickets, with the help of a little cameo of Tewatia.
Royal Challengers Bangalore were aggressive in chasing this total. But their opener Aaron Finch got out in the third over and raised hopes in RR’s camp. However, Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal made sure RR doesn’t get any chance of taking more wickets. Padikkal played a classy knock once again and scored his third half-century of the season. Even Kohli came back to form after giving three disappointing outings this season. Both of them made a partnership of 99 runs for the second wicket. Finally, Jofra Archer broke them apart in the 16th over by getting the wicket of Padikkal. But, things went out of hand by that hand and Bangalore was cruising towards a win. They have completed the chase by scoring 158 runs in 19.1 overs.
Scorecard:
Rajasthan Royals: 154/6 (M Lomror 47, R Tewatia 24*, Y Chahal 3/24)
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 158/2 (V Kohli 72*, D Padikkal 63, J Archer 1/18)