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On the back of stupendous knocks from Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson, Rajasthan Royals (RR) defeated the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by six wickets in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on April 6 (Saturday). Chasing a tricky target of 184 runs, the Royals reached the promised land with five balls to spare. As a result, Samson's brigade made it four wins in as many matches and jumped to the top of the points table.
RCB, on the flip side, lost their fourth match of the season and are already entering desperation mode with just one win in five matches played this season.
Buttler scores tremendous ton, Samson sizzles with fifty Ā
In their run chase, Rajasthan were rocked early as Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for a duck on the second ball of the innings. Captain Samson joined forces with Buttler and the duo dug their team out of a slight hole by donning a cautious approach during the early overs. Once both the batters got set and got the hang of the pitch, they went from gear one to gear five in no time. The RCB bowlers had no answers to Samson and Buttler's masterclass.
In no time, both Samson and Buttler completed their half-century and put Rajasthan on their way to a fourth successive win. Samson departed after playing an attractive knock of 69 runs off 49 balls with the help of eight fours and two sixes. Riyan Parag added four runs while Dhruv Jurel was dismissed for two runs.
Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer took care of the business by batting sensibly towards the end. With RR needing one run to win the match and Buttler six runs away from his 6th IPL ton, the English batter smashed a six to bring up his three-figure mark and won the game for his franchise.
Buttler remained unbeaten on 100 runs off 58 balls with the help of nine fours and four sixes. Hetmyer remained unbeaten on 11 runs off six balls.
For the RCB, Reece Topley was the only bowler who troubled RR batters. The left-arm seamer finished the game with excellent figures of 2/27 in four overs. Yash Dayal and Mohammed Siraj bagged a wicket each.
Lone warrior Virat Kohli sizzles again
When RCB were put into bat first, the franchise needed to bat with the positive intent to post a defendable score on the board. Openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis gave the team a superb start and laid the platform for explosive batters like Glenn Maxwell and Cameron Green. But just like the previous matches, the RCB's famed middle-order failed miserably, leaving Kohli on an island by himself.
Kohli and du Plessis registered a fantastic partnership of 125 runs in 14 overs. The RCB captain du Plessis was struggling to time the ball right through his innings but fought his way to 44 runs off 33 balls before being dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal. Kohli, on the other hand, kept finding the boundaries at regular intervals, playing some stunning shots in the process.
Maxwell walked out to bat at No.3 but his innings lasted for just three balls after the Aussie batter departed with just one run to his name. Again, Kohli kept pushing on the accelerator and completed his eighth century in the IPL. In the end, Kohli remained unbeaten on 113 runs off 72 balls with the help of 12 fours and four sixes. Kohli took 67 balls to complete his century and his knock propelled RCB to a score of 183/3 in 20 overs.
For Rajasthan, Chahal was the pick of all bowlers as the willy leg-spinner finished with excellent figures of 2/34 in four overs. Nandre Burger bowled beautifully as well and finished with 1/33 in four overs.Ā
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