Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore took a step forward by defeating the table-toppers Rajasthan Royals in the first match of the day in the Indian Premier League. Bengaluru scored 189 runs for 9 wickets in 20 overs. In reply, Sanju Samson’s innings stopped at 182 runs.
At the start of the match, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson invited Bengaluru to bat after winning the toss. Bangalore team leader and opener Virat Kohli returned to the dressing room with the first ball after coming down to bat.
However, Glenn Maxway and Faf du Plessis handled the pressure in the second wicket pair. And ruled the bowlers of Rajasthan. Both these batsmen have seen half-centuries. Du Plessis scored 62 runs from 39 balls and Maxwell scored 77 runs from 44 balls. After that, no one could take advantage with the bat.
Rajasthan lost opener Jos Buttler in the run chase. Buttler could not score any run in 2 balls. However, Jaswal and Devdut Paddikal continued to bat brilliantly in the second wicket pair. Both made a pair of 98 runs. At this time, it seemed that the top team was on the way to an easy victory.
But when Paddikal got out for 52 runs and Jaswal got out for 47 runs, the team was under pressure again. Shimron Hetmyer managed to score only 3 runs in 9 balls. In the end, Sanjuson’s 15-ball 22 and Dhruv Jurel’s 34-run innings tried to win but lost by 7 runs.
(23 April/MM)