Table toppers and former champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) locked horns with Royal Challenges Bangalore (RCB) at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Sunday (April 23).
RR skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bowl first. Despite losing Virat Kohli for a golden duck on the very first ball of the match off Trent Boult's over, RCB posted a challenging total of 189/9 riding on Faf Du Plessis' cracking 62 off 39 and Glenn Maxwell's lightning 77 off 44. Trent Boult and Sandeep Sharma were the pick of the bowlers for RR with two wickets apiece.
RCB, couldn't have got a better start as they got rid of their biggest threat Jos Buttler in the very first over of RR innings. Mohammed Siraj, who bowled the opening over for RCB, castled Buttler on the second ball of the first over. Siraj's screamer came right into Buttler and went through the gate to see the middle stump flying. This was second duck for Buttler in the IPL 2023.
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Post Buttler's dismissal, Yashasvi Jaiswal (47) and Devdutt Padikkal (52) stitched together a 98-run stand for the second wicket before walking back to pavilion which left RR reeling again. Captain Sanju Samson (22 off 15) was also removed shortly. Later, Shimron Hetmyer failed to find the big hits and was run-out for 3(9), however, a late cameo by Dhruv Jurel kept Rajasthan in hunt. With 20 required in the final over, Jurel only got to face the final delivery, when the match was already out of RR's hand as they managed to add 182/6 and lost the match by seven runs. Harshal Patel (3/32) was the pick of the bowlers for RCB.
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