New Delhi: Harshal Patel bowled economically and picked wickets at the right time to lead RCB to a home victory. The pacer defended 20 runs in the last over and having runs in the bag helped the pace attack to bowl without pressure. The fifties by Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell guided RCB to 189 while Dhruv Jurel and Ravichandran Ashwin’s heroics, in the end, went in vain.
Harshal picked up three wickets for 32 runs, dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal on a crucial point in the game, RR captain Sanju Samson, who is in form, and Ashwin in the last over to defend the total. Ravichandran Ashwin got two boundaries and a double before he got out in the final over, while Dhruv Jurel scored a cracking 34* off 16 to give real chances to the Royals to win the game.
Mohammed Siraj began the inning with a wicket in the first over as he got Jos Buttler for a duck. Devdutt Paddikal scored 52 off 34 while Yashasvi Jaiswal got 47 off 37 and their partnership got things going for RR.
Paddikal’s wicket by David Willey changed the game in favour of RCB and RR slowed down from there on. Sanju Samson scored 22 off 15 before Shahbaz caught him off Harshal Patel’s delivery while Shimron Hetmyer could manage 3(9) before getting runout.
In the first inning, Trent Boult got Virat Kohli in the first delivery and continued his stint with the new ball to get Shahbaz Ahmad in the third over. Faf and Maxwell took RCB from 12/2 to 139/3 as the skipper played yet another crucial knock of 62 off 39. Glenn Maxwell was the real aggressor with 77 off 44, hitting six fours and four sixes before Ashwin got him as he tried a switch hit and handed a catch to Jason Holder.
RCB’s lower order could not deliver and they were restricted to 189, which proved to be enough to win the game. Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma picked two scalps each while Yuzvendra Chahal, bowling on his old home ground, was the most economical for RR with 28 for one.
Maxwell earned the Player of the Match award for his cracking inning.
