The Dubai International Stadium hosted the 43rd match of the IPL 2021 between the unpredictable men-in-pink Rajasthan Royals against the in-form Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Just another day in IPL where we’ve witnessed a few spectacular performances from some notable players. Virat Kohli’s men were looking forward to moving up the table to claim and stay at their spot at the top four in the points table.
RCB won the toss and deciding to bat first came out to be fruitful as the bowlers did their part of the job almost brilliantly.
RR had a blissful start but couldn’t hold on for long
Calmly and cautiously both the openers from RR started beautifully. Both of the openers Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal were seen to be confident while playing their shots. With a partnership of 77 runs, it was during the 8.2 overs when Dann Christian strikes for RCB taking the wicket of the young Jaishwal from RR.
After a great start from the Royals, things weren’t going their way after the end of Lewis’s innings during the 12th over of the 1st innings by George Garton- the left-arm fast bowler from RCB. Lewis scored a stunning 58 of 37 balls with a strike rate of 156.75. He was almost set and was expected to carry on with the responsibility with the bat for RR, but couldn’t!
Kohli brought in seven bowlers to experiment against the RR on the pitch in Dubai but it was only Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal who bowled their quota of four overs. The pitch was seen to be responsive especially to the spinners.
Patel was extensively effective towards the end where he picked up back-to-back wickets on the same over along with missing a second hat-trick chance this season. He bowled his quota of four overs conceding 34 runs and picking up three wickets.
On the other end, it was Chahal with his intelligent spin bowling for RCB, who took the vital wickets of Lomror and Livingstone – was a threat for the RCB. Chahal bowled for four overs conceding only 18 runs with an impressive economy of 4.50 along with taking the two above-mentioned vital wickets.
Also, Shahbaz Ahmed taking the dangerous wicket of Sanju Samson during the 14th over and then the wicket of Rahul Tewatia later on, changed the course of the game.
After the fall of the opening pair, none of the batters could make a partnership or had performed as expected. Wickets were seen to be falling at regular intervals. Somehow, the Royals scored 149/9 at the end of 20 overs with a run rate of 7.45.
RCB’s Top batters doing the Top Job!
The explosive openers from RCB- Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal decently started both of their innings. Heading towards cautiously and gracefully both were building a good partnership of 48 at the end of five overs of the second innings.
Mustafizur Rahman from the Rajasthan Royals was seen to be fully composed during his spells of bowling today. He strikes right after the fifth over breaking a promising partnership that was building up. He was brought into action and thus end-up taking the wicket of the dangerous youngster Padikkal who scored 22 runs playing 17 balls.
After Padikkal’s dismissal, K.S Bharat took the guards for RCB and headed the campaign quite maturely.
Out of nowhere, it was Riyan Parag, not with the bowl or bat but with a stunning piece of fielding at the point region, which got Virat Kohli run-out through an accurate direct hit.
After the King’s dismissal at 25 runs playing 20 balls, Glenn Maxwell took his stunts. Maxwell played an awesome inning with the bat. After having some terrible past seasons in IPL, the star shined bright for RCB today. He led the team gracefully and comfortably into the mouths of win.
On the other hand, Chris Moris with the bowl from RR was a bit expensive, He was hit around by both Bharat and Maxwell towards the end. Morris has been expensive after the start of phase two.
It was a great show of handling pressure and hitting the ball confidently by the young KS Bharat from RCB. He scored 44 runs playing 35 balls and striking at a rate of 125.71.
Maxwell remained unbeaten with stunning 50 runs of 30 balls while de Villiers ended the show in style for RCB. They won with the remaining 7 wickets and 17 balls.
RCB will surely enjoy this win and will be boosted with confidence with their position at the points table this season and certainly with a clear hope to qualify for the play-offs.
Man-of-the-match: It was Yuzvendra Chahal for his out-of-the-ordinary performance with the ball.