Bengaluru

Fiery half-centuries from Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell, followed by a three-wicket haul from Harshal Patel helped Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeat Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 7-run in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 here at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.

Faf du Plessis' authoritative 62 off 39 and Glenn Maxwell's blockbuster 77 off 44 helped RCB post 189/9. Harshal Patel then roared back to form with a crucial spell of 3/32 as he held his nerve in the last over and defended 20 runs to win the match for RCB. David Willey and Mohammed Siraj scalped one wicket each.

For RR, Yashasvi Jaiswal played a knock of 47 off 37 while Devdutt Padikkal slammed 52 in 34 balls.

Chasing 190, Rajasthan Royals didn't get off to the best of starts as they lost Jos Buttler off the fourth ball of the match, cleaned up by Mohd. Siraj. Yashasvi Jaiswal then counter-attacked with four fours in three overs. And Devdutt Padikkal too chipped in with four well-placed fours. Jaiswal hit a huge 81m six off Maxwell as RR reached 41/1 at the end of the Powerplay.

The duo kept the runs flowing, hitting at least one boundary every over as they accumulated 51 runs off the next four overs to take RR to 92/1 at the halfway mark.

Padikkal brought up his fifty off 30 balls but he departed soon as David Willey finally provided a crucial breakthrough, having him caught at long on for 52 in 34 balls.

RCB tightened things up and the pressure got to Jaiswal as he holed out in the deep for 47 (37 balls) off a slower ball from Harshal Patel. RR could manage just 16/2 in the 11-14 over phase. Samson then finally released the pressure valve hitting a four and a six off Wanindu Hasaranga and then a four against Harshal Patel. But the RCB pacer hit back hard off the next ball, having Samson caught at short third man for 22 (15 balls) as the equation read 61 needed off 24 balls.

Dhruv Jurel injected the much-needed momentum as he hit two fours off Siraj and took 15 from the over. A topsy-turvy over followed as Jurel hit a six first ball off Willey but then a sensational direct hit saw Suyash Prabhudessai run out the dangerman Shimron Hetmyer as the equation came down to 33 off 12.

Siraj started off the penultimate over well giving away just five off the first four balls but then Jurel hit a flat six, flicking one over long leg for a six. A quick couple off the last ball made it 13 off the over.

With 20 needed off the last over, Ashwin top-edged a slower delivery from Harshal Patel over the keeper for a streaky four off the first ball. Ashwin dug a yorker to the leg side off the next ball and scampered through for a couple as RCB missed a run-out chance.

Ashwin swiped the third ball wide of short fine leg for a four to bring the equation down to 10 needed off 3. Harshal's slower finally worked as he had Ashwin caught at deep mid-wicket off a mistimed heave.

RR sent Impact Player Abdul Basith at No 8. And he could take just a single off the pull off his first ball as the Bengaluru crowd roared. With 9 needed off the last ball, Jurel cut one straight to point for a single as RCB won by seven runs. Jurel remained unbeaten on 34 off 16.

Earlier, Virat Kohli and Faf Du Plessis stepped onto the pitch as RCB were asked to bat first. RR pace bowler Trent Boult drew the first blood as Virat Kohli walked back to the pavilion for a golden duck 0(1). The in-swinging delivery from the left armer has been the Achilles heel of Kohli for the past few overs. Shahbaz Ahmed came in but lost his wicket to Boult in the third over of the match.

Du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell stepped up once again to bring RCB's innings back on track. They dealt in boundaries and at the end of the powerplay RCB managed to put a score of 62/2 on the board. Maxwell and Du Plessis continued their onslaught on Rajasthan bowlers. Maxwell completed his quick-fire half-century in 9.4 overs.

RCB crossed the 100-run mark with a four on the final ball of the 10th over. At the halfway point of the first innings, RCB had a score of 101/2 on the board.

However, RCB started to lose momentum in the 14th over as they have in the previous matches. Yashasvi Jaiswal produced a sensational effort in the field as he sent Faf Du Plessis back to the dugout for a score of 62 (39 balls) following a runout. Ravichandran Ashwin followed up quickly and picked up the wicket of Glenn Maxwell on the final ball of the 15th over for a score of 77 (44 balls).

In the remaining five overs RCB lost the wickets on a consistent basis. Suyash Prabhudessai, Wanindu Hasaranga and Mahipal Lomror failed to reach double digits. Dinesh Karthik tried to put up a fight and take RCB's total close to the 200 run-mark, but he ended up losing his wicket in the final over. Sandeep Sharma produced an economical final over to keep RCB's score below 200.

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RCB ended their innings with a score of 189/9 in 20 overs.