Picture Credit: IPL/BCCI
The game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Rajasthan Royals at Dubai International Cricket Stadium kicked off with Virat Kohli winning the toss and opting to bowl first. The decision seemed to have backfired Kohli after RR openers Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal together scored 56 runs in the powerplay itself.
However, with the passage of time in the game, RCB players bounced back and they did so in style. It all started with the wicket of Jaiswal, who departed on the ball of Daniel Christian in the 9th over. By that time, RR were 77/1 in 8.2 overs and were looking to set a big score for Kohli's men. In contrast to what was expected, Jaiswal's wicket opened the floodgates and wickets fell in tandem to see the side getting limited to 149/9 by the end of their stipulated quota of 20 overs.
Apart from RCB's bowling, their fielding also deserved the credit for restricting Rajasthan to an average score despite Kohli's men conceding a blazing start to their opponents. From skipper Kohli's breath-taking fielding to wicketkeeper KS Bharat's amazing saves, the first innings of the game on Wednesday witnessed just another level of fielding from the RCB players. What transpired was a flying Devdutt Padikkal holding on to a spectacular catch to dismiss Chris Morris in the 20th over of the innings.
Morris sliced a delivery from Harshal Patel towards deep extra cover. Since the ball was at a good height, Padikkal ran from deep point to convert it into a catch. His quick foot movement and good judgement saw him taking the catch with utmost brilliance.
Watch the catch here:
Talking about the game, Lewis, with a 58 off just 37, top-scored for Rajasthan Royals in the innings, while Jaiswal was the second-highest run-scorer for the side with a 31 off 22. Notably, the hero of the previous two games for Rajasthan, Sanju Samson, couldn't do big this time and got dismissed on a score of 19 off 15 balls. For Royal Challengers Bangalore, Harshal Patel once again shone with the ball and returned figures of 3/34. Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal (4 overs) and Shahbaz Ahmed (2 overs) took two wickets each, conceding 18 and 10 runs, respectively.