Jaipur: Yashasvi Jaiswal’s half-century coupled with Dhruv Jurel’s 23-ball 35 blitz powered Rajasthan Royals to 173/4 in 20 overs against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in match 28 of the IPL 2025 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Sunday.
Invited to bat first, Rajasthan openers Jaiswal and captain Sanju Samson gave a mediocre start to the innings with the former amassing three fours in the first three powerplay overs.
With Jaiswal scoring his runs freely, Samson was facing difficulty in scoring runs despite the field restrictions.
Jaiswal took charge on Yash Dayal’s second over and hammered him for six and a four to accumulate 12 runs from the over. Australian pacer Josh Hazlewood just conceded a four in the final over of the powerplay as Rajasthan were 45/0 after six overs.
Krunal Pandya drew first blood for the RCB in the seventh over with the scalp of struggling Samson, who departed after scoring 19-ball 15.
Riyan Parag joined Jaiswal in the middle and kept the scoreboard ticking in the middle overs with boundaries at regular intervals.
In the ninth over when Rajat Patidar introduced Suyash Sharma into the attack, Parag smashed two fours in the over as Yash Dayal dropped him for 17.
In the next over, he slammed Krunal Pandya for a six over mid-wicket to give some boost to their scoring rate.
Meanwhile, Jasiwal completed his second half-century of the season in 35 balls. It was his 11th fifty in IPL and third at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Rajasthan were 104/1 after the end of 13 overs.
In the 14th over, Parag was dismissed by Yash Dayal for 30 runs as the batter gave an easy catch to Virat Kohli at cover.
Dhruv Jurel came in to bat at no. 4 as Jaiswal continued his knock from the other end. The opener took charge against Hazlewood and sent him for a six and a four before losing his wicket in the same over. Jaiswal played a knock of 75 runs off 47 balls studded with 10 fours and two sixes.
Shimron Hetmyer and Jurel took the responsibility of lifting the scoring rate in the death overs. Jurel got lucky in the 17th over when Kohli dropped him for 11 after he struck six off Suyash Sharma’s final over.
Jurel made the most of Dayal’s final over of the spell and smacked six and a four on the first two balls. Rajasthan accumulated 15 runs from the penultimate over of the innings to move past the 150-run mark.
Bhuvneshwar conceded 11 runs from the last over of the innings after being hit for two fours. He also got the wicket of Hetmyer on the penultimate ball before Nitish Rana hit him for four to take Rajasthan to 173/4.
For RCB, Krunal was the most economical as he returned with the figures of 1-29 in his four overs.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 173/4 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 75, Dhruv Jurel 35 not out; Krunal Pandya 1-29, Josh Hazlewood 1-26) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
(IANS)
