The Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati had the toss delayed due to rain. However, once the toss happened and Rajasthan Royals put RCB into bat, by then the conditions had become totally bowler-friendly, especially for fast bowlers.

Phil Salt can be excused, for he got out right off the first ball of the match, bowled by tearaway pacer Jofra Archer. Devdutt Padikkal and Virat Kohli had edges in the same over, and that should have made them careful. Instead, they chose to continue playing their strokes, and for a brief period, they were successful too. Kohli played some exquisite drives through the covers. And right there, they got carried away, ignoring the prodigious swing and seam offered by the Guwahati surface. Archer also removed Padikkal for 16 in the third over; however, once Ravi Bishnoi clean-bowled Virat Kohli for a 16-ball 32, things had started to change for RCB.

Then came pacer Brijesh, who took two early wickets of Tim David and Jitesh Sharma, reducing RCB to just 94/6. RCB captain Rajat Patidar was the only batsman who played properly. He was quiet for the large part of his innings, but when there were loose deliveries, he pounced on them. His two sixes off South Africa quick Nandre Burger in the 15th over were particularly eye-catching. Patidar's 63 off 40 balls was ended by Sandeep Sharma.

Venkatesh Iyer was introduced as an impact sub, and he scored a quickfire cameo of 29 runs in 15 balls. His 21 runs came in the last over vs Sandeep Sharma, taking RCB to 201.

Twitter explodes in happiness with Venkatesh’s RCB Debut success and Patidar’s Captain Innings:

Irfan Pathan posted, “ RCB unit is one of the strongest batting units going around. 11 overs 6 wickets down, still able to get 200. This is just wow, regardless of the end result.”

One Fan posted a celebration video, saying RCB One Nation :

Another Fan said “ 202 target for Royals on a decent pitch. This is some recovery from RCB. They will be a bowler short here as they have to get Venky Iyer. Royals need to be 67/1 after power play to stay ahead of this chase.”

One fan went on to exclaim how consistent Rajat Patidar has been for RCB since 2023, asking for his T20 debut in Team India

Royal armies are welcoming Venkatesh Iyer finally 👍

Let us see who wins this contest now ?