Another IPL 2023 match went down to the wire but on Sunday evening in Bengaluru, Royal Challengers Bangalore finished on the right side of the result, beating Rajasthan Royals by 7 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Earlier, Faf du Plessis (62) and Glenn Maxwell's (77) 127-run stand anchored RCB's innings as the team posted 189/9 after being put into bat by Sanju Samson.
In the chase, Devdutt Paddikal and Yashasvi Jaiswal stitched together a strong 98-run stand for the second wicket but once this pair got out, Rajasthan struggled and eventually fell short by 7 runs.
Put in to bat first, RCB suffered two early blows in the form of Virat Kohli and Shahbaz Ahmed. Then, Faf du Plessis and Glen Maxwell got into the rebuilding act and took the powerplay score to 62/2.
Trent Boult started the attack brilliantly as he first trapped skipper Kohli for a first-ball duck. He then removed Shahbaz on the first of the third over, leaving RCB for 12/2.
In the next over Faf du Plessis opened arms and smashed Sandeep Sharma's back-to-back maximums and followed that up with a brilliant boundary towards deep square-leg, taking 16 runs off the over.
Then, Maxwell joined the party hitting a couple of boundaries in the next over. He continued with hitting in the next over as he smashed a boundary and a six, taking the powerplay total to 62 after losing two early wickets.
The hosts didn't lose a single wicket after the powerplay and stood strong at 135/2 after 13 overs before Du Plessis got run out in the 14th over.
After 10 runs off the seventh over Yuzvendra Chahal and Jason Holder bowled a few economical overs to slow down the run rate. But Maxwell has different plans as he went for six in the 10th over to complete his fifty off 26 balls. Then du Plessis ended the over with a boundary toward extra cover and RCB touched the 100-run mark halfway through the innings.
An over later, Du Plessis and Maxwell completed the 100-run stand for the third wicket off 54 balls. Soon, the latter completed his fifth half-century of the season. The dangerous-looking partnership of 127 off 66 balls came to an end in the 14th over when Du Plessis got run out by Yashaswi Jaiswal's brilliant direct hit.
Maxwell, who was doing merry with his calculated hits, fell in the next over for 77. He attempted a reverse hit on Ashwin's carrom ball but found Holder at backward point, who took an easy catch, bringing to an end Maxwell's impressive knock.
After Maxwell's dismissal, the Royals clawed back into the game as RCB suffered a massive collapse.
An over later, Yuvendra Chahal came into the attack and trapped Mahipal Lomror, who went for a big hit down the ground, miscued it and the ball went straight up and Padikkal from long-off ran in to take a smart catch. In the same over, RCB lost Suyash Prabhudessai through a run-out.
In the last over, RCB lost three wickets. Starting with Wanindu Hasaranga's run out on the first ball of the over. Sandeep Sharma dismissed Dinesh Karthik after conceding a boundary in the previous delivery. He then removed Vijaykumar Vyshak on the next ball.
With just 33 runs coming off the last five overs for the loss of five wickets, RCB was restricted to 189/9.
Rajasthan's Chase
In response, RR too had a similar start to that of RCB. Mohammed Siraj started the innings beautifully as he cleaned up Jos Buttler for a duck and conceded just one off the first over. Then, Yashaswi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal together collected eight boundaries and a six in the next five overs as RR posted 47/1 in the powerplay.
Post powerplay, Jaiswal and Padikkal accelerated the run rate as the duo reached a close-to-century partnership thanks to their well-timed shots, and the Royals were 92/1 after 10 overs.
RCB managed to put pressure on the Royals with their tight bowling as the visitors didn't get a single boundary in the next four overs.
In the 11th over, Padikkal completed his fifty, off 31 deliveries, before becoming David Wiley's victim in the next, and the 98-run partnership came to an end. Padikkal came down and looked to swing it away but doesn't get a hold of it and Kohli ran in from long-on to complete a nice catch.
An over later, Harshal Patel denied Jaiswal a half-century as he sent the batter packing for 47. Jaiswal tried to slam it over long-on, but captain Kohli pouched it safely.
As RR didn't get any big hits in the last 24 balls, Sanju Samson started the 15th over with a boundary over the bowler's head. A couple of singles later, he slammed a massive six to release some pressure. But the skipper had an off day as he failed to score big. But, Dhruv Jurel kept the visitors in the hunt with a counter-attacking 34 runs in the death overs.
Harshal Patel struck again in the 16th over and got the big fish Samson for 22, making the task difficult for the Royals. RCB's strike bowler Siraj went for 16 runs off the next over as he bowled three wides and Dhruv Jurel smashed him for a couple of boundaries.
Jurel went with the flow and smashed Willey over the deep square leg for a six. But things became tougher for the Royals as the big hitter Shimron Hetmyer got run out by Suyash Prabhudessai in the same over and the momentum shifted towards RCB.
With 33 needed in 12, Jurel smashed a stunning flat six off Siraj and survived a dramatic run-out and 13 runs came off the over.
With 20 needed off the final over, Ashwin played a bizarre shot and got a boundary, and went for a double on the next ball. He followed that up with another four.
Ashwin tried to go big on the next delivery but didn't get much elevation and handed a simple catch to the fielder stationed in the deep mid-wicket. With 10 needed off 2, two singles came off the last two balls and RCB sealed the win by 7 runs.
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