After posting a slightly below-par total, RR bounced back amazingly with the ball to hand RCB another drubbing. Riyan Parag was the star for RR with the bat and in the field, with Ravichandran Ashwin bringing his all-round game to the fore. We look at some of the key moments from game 39 of the 2022 IPL.
R Ashwin at number 3
After RR lost Devdutt Padikkal in the second over, RR made a surprising move by sending Ravichandran Ashwin at number three. Although surprising, the decision made a lot of cricketing sense, and Ashwin played his part with a 17-run cameo off nine balls.
Ashwin is a batter who doesn’t have the power game for a lower middle-order batter. With him batting at seven, the batting looks a bit thin. Ashwin is a good timer of the ball and is apt at piercing the gaps. Batting in Powerplay helps his batting style, and that is also the most optimal outcome for RR. It also helps RR lengthen their batting lineup, which came into the picture against RCB as Shimron Hetmyer batted at seven.
Josh Hazlewood’s lengths
Josh Hazlewood has been extremely successful for RCB. So far this season, he has taken 10 wickets at an outstanding economy rate of 7.16. A whopping 53.55% of his balls have been dot balls. The key to Hazlewood’s success has been his length.
The pitch at the MCA Stadium in Pune was slightly two-paced. The ball stopped a bit when bowled on the good length or just short of good length. Hazlewood, with all his experience, was quick to gauge this and kept bowling at that length. More than 75% of his balls were bowled on good length or just short of good length. This helped him finish with excellent figures of 2-19, including a maiden.
Riyan Parag finding form
There were a lot of doubts over Riyan Parag’s place in the playing XI. The doubts were somewhat justified as the youngster has had poor returns in IPL. Before this season, Parag played 23 innings for RR with a poor average of 17 and an underwhelming strike rate of just 118.5.
This season, Parag has been gathering small but good performances and that has reflected in his returns so far. As opposed to a dot ball percentage of 38.5% before this season, Parag has a reduced his dot ball% to 28.4%. His strike rate this season has improved drastically, with the middle-order batter scoring at 155.2.
Parag played an unbeaten match-winning knock of 56 off 31 balls. He took calculated risks against the pace of Harshal Patel and respectfully played out the over from Wanindu Hasaranga. RR have invested heavily in Riyan Parag and have backed him to the hilt. With such returns, RR would feel vindicated in their decision, and Parag too would feel confident going into the remainder of the matches.