In the high-voltage RCB vs RR IPL 2025 encounter, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ended a run of home toss defeats to register a comprehensive 205/5 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, and fetched their 1st victory at home.
A strong 95-run stand between Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal formed the backbone of RCB’s comeback after they lost opener Phil Salt early. With the ball, Josh Hazlewood anchored the role of defending and taking crucial 4 wickets for RCB. Josh also won the player of the match award for his outstanding performance with the ball.
Kohli Begins Slowly, Ends On A High
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Virat Kohli, who had been forceful in the earlier matches, took a more restrained approach here. Even though he had a couple of fortunate boundaries at the start against Jofra Archer, he gained rhythm soon enough. Kohli went on to score his fifty in 32 balls, steadying the innings before getting out for a well-made knock while trying to push the pace further.
Padikkal Shines Bright Despite Lucky Breaks
On the opposite end, Devdutt Padikkal was in a flowy touch. Despite being offered two lifelines dropped on 28 and another on 36, he used the opportunities to score his second successive half-century. His strike rate and slog running between the wickets continued to clock runs, providing Kohli the reinforcement he required.
Talking at the mid-innings interval, Padikkal stated,
“The surface was a bit sticky, so running hard and building a partnership was crucial. I’ve worked hard over the past couple of years, especially with DK and Andy Flower, and it’s finally paying off.”
Late Collapse, But David and Jitesh Power a Final Surge
Following Kohli, Padikkal, and Rajat Patidar’s dismissals one after another — with RCB losing 3 wickets for a mere 7 runs from overs 15 to 17 — it looked like RR could fight their way back into the game. In a bid to prove himself after some recent poor performances, pressure-placed bowler Sandeep Sharma obtained two important wickets in one over to keep RR alive.
But a six-ball stand between Tim David and Jitesh Sharma changed the course again. Both of them thrashed 42 runs in merely 3.1 overs, giving the perfect finish and taking RCB to a strong total.
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RR Bowling Effort Under the Scanner
Rajasthan Royals enjoyed flashes of brilliance with the ball, particularly in the middle overs. But they will surely regret their missed chances and failure to apply pressure in the death overs. The late flourish by David and Jitesh could be the game-changer in what could become a close chase.
Rajasthan Royals Roller Coaster Innings
RR had a great start with young left-handed openers Yashaswi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Vaibhav was dismissed early at 16 off 12, and Yashaswi missed his half century by 1 run, scoring 49 off just 19 balls.
Nitish Rana and Riyan Parag built a stable partnership, contributing 22 with the bat by Riyan and 28 by Nitish. Their partnership was short-lived, and soon hard-hitter Hetmyer also gave his wicket to Josh Hazelwood’s cross-seam delivery at just 11 runs.
Dhruv Jurel played a great knock of 47 runs by an outside off-stump yorker, unfortunately, got out with a thin edge while slicing the ball. On the very next ball, Archer threw his wicket to a hard length delivery, giving a routine catch on short covers.
Shubham Dubey attempted a great knock to finish and changed the momentum in Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s over. But it was short-lived and fell prey to Yash Dayal’s slower, low full toss.
Josh Hazlewood’s heroics, a 4-wicket haul in RCB vs RR IPL 2024
Josh bowled the match-turning last two overs of his spell. In his 17th over, Hazlewood gave 6 runs and took 1 wicket of finisher Hetmyer, later in the 19th over when 19 was needed in 12 because of Bhuvneshwar’s 22-run over. Hazlewood controlled the situation by getting lucky in getting the set batsman wicket of Jurel and Archer on the next ball. He gave only 1 run in the 19th over with two wickets.
ALSO READ: RCB vs RR, IPL 2025: Playing XIs And Impact Players Of Both The Teams
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