Bengaluru: After Faf du Plessis (62) and Glenn Maxwell’s (77) 127-run stand, Royal Challengers Bangalore suffered a batting collapse as late strikes from Rajasthan Royal (RR) restricted the hosts to 189/9 in 20 overs in an IPL 2023 match here at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.
After losing two wickets early in the Power-play, Du Plessis and Maxwell held the fort and stitched a 127-run stand for the third wicket. After the duo was dismissed within two overs, RCB lost the next five wickets in quick succession.
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 Power-play 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 Power-play total to 62 after losing two early wickets.
The hosts didn’t lose a single wicket after the Power-play 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.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bangalore 189/9 in 20 overs (Faf du Plessis 62, Glenn Maxwell 77; Trent Boult 2-41, Sandeep Sharma 2-49) against Rajasthan Royals.
(IANS)
