Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Rajasthan Royals defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 15 runs at MCA Stadium in Pune on Wednesday. Riyan Parag's half-century and a four-wicket haul from Kuldeep Sen were few of the notable performances from the Rajasthan side. The match, which saw the dominance of bowlers in both the innings, turned out to be a disappointing outing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore as they fell short of 15 runs while chasing 144 in 20 overs of the game.
Virat Kohli delivered yet another unlikely performance. Despite opening the innings for Bangalore, he could not add more than 9 runs on board before being dismissed in the 2nd over. None of the Bangalore batters could spend enough time on the crease to keep the side in the run chase and delivered yet another sorrowful performance after the game against Hyderabad. W Hasaranga, Md Siraj and Josh Hazlewood emerged as standout bowlers for their side as they clinched two wickets each in the first innings to restrict Rajasthan to just 144. Similarly, Rajasthan bowlers dominated the second innings as they picked wickets at regular intervals.
Let's take a look at some of the highlights of the game.
1. Bangalore's impressive bowling in the first innings
Bangalore bowlers had a mounting task to restrict Jos Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal. Shahbaz Ahmed bowled the game's first over and conceded just five runs with one wide. However, Siraj had an unlikely welcome as Padikkal smashed him for maximum on the very first over. But, Siraj was quick to make an impressive comeback as he trapped Padikkal leg before wicket on the very fourth ball of the over. Josh Hazlewood, too, joined the party as he dismissed in-form Jos Buttler in the 5th over of the game. Bangalore bowlers stepped up in the situation and bundled out Rajasthan at just 144.
2. Riyan Parag's match-saving half-century
While Rajasthan batters, including Jos Buttler, had a tough outing against RCB in the first innings, Parag held the ground and shut down his critics with an impressive half-century. His 56 off 31 balls had four maximums and three boundaries, which eventually helped Rajasthan to post a defending total in the game.
3. Kuldeep Sen's lethal pace attack:
The 25-year-old pacer was given a chance in the squad in place of Obed McCoy, and Sen was right on the money in his first match. He dismissed Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell on back-to-back deliveries in the fourth over as he went to take four wickets in 3.3 overs. Sen was highly impressive in the game, which saw other Rajasthan bowlers like R Ashwin too take three wickets. Kuldeep only conceded 20 runs in his 3.3 overs and bowled with an economy of 5.70.
4. Verbal altercation between Riyan Parag and Harshal Patel
Riyan Parag was the lone warrior for Rajasthan as he delivered fine innings in the game where the likes of Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson had a tough time. But his superb innings had a sour end as RCB bowler Harshal Patel indulged with the all-rounder in a verbal altercation. Notably, Riyan smashed away Harshal's final over of the game for 18 runs, including two maximums. Harshal even refused to shake hands with Riyan Parag after the match ended in Rajasthan's favour.